Tropical Forest Vertical Structure Characterization: From GEDI to P-Band SAR Tomography

Estimating tropical forests’ vertical structure using remote sensing is a challenge. Active sensors such as low-frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at the P-band, with a wavelength of ~69 cm, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) are able to penetrate thick vegetation layers. While NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is collecting spaceborne LiDAR data, the ESA’s next Earth Explorer BIOMASS mission will acquire multiple acquisitions over the same areas to form 3-D images through the SAR tomography (TomoSAR) technique. Our study shows the potential value of GEDI and TomoSAR acquisitions in producing accurate estimates of forests’ vertical structure. By analyzing the airborne P-band TomoSAR, airborne LiDAR, and spaceborne GEDI LiDAR at a tropical forest site in Paracou, French Guiana, South America, we show that both GEDI and P-band TomoSAR can directly measure surface, vegetation heights, and vertical profiles with high resolution and precision. Airborne TomoSAR is of higher quality than GEDI due to better penetration properties and precision. However, GEDI vegetation height root-mean-square error (RMSE) is less than 5 m, for an average forest height value around 30 m at the Paracou site, which is similar to the expected performance of the future spaceborne BIOMASS mission. These results suggest that GEDI measurements, i.e., shots with sensitivity greater than 98%, will provide a good reference of forest structure to calibrate the BIOMASS mission algorithms.