Land-cover classification is one of the main uses for remotely-sensed imagery of nay kind and SAR is no exception. The ecological and climate-modeling communities use this data to produce models with higher fidelity than before. Others also use the data over smaller areas such as the U.S. Forest Service which needs estimates of forest growth and health. Potentially this could even be used for identifying health and type of crops. In every case, the image must first be classified to the species level before other details can be determined.

Some examples are shown below. The image on the left shows a classification using a composite of the ERS and JERS Satellite SAR data. The image on the right shows a portion of the same area but classified using multi-frequency and multi-polarization SIR-C SAR data. The 2 methods agree well with each other and with reality.

Some of our publications in this area:

• Dobson, M.C., L.E. Pierce, K. Sarabandi, F.T. Ulaby, and T. Sharik, ``Preliminary analysis of ERS-1 SAR for forest ecosystem studies,'' IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing., vol. 30, no. 2, 203-211, March 1992. [Abstract] [umERS1.pdf]
  
  
• Way, J. B., E. Rignot, K. McDonald, R. Oren, R. Kwok, G. Bonan, C. Dobson, L. Viereck and J. E. Roth, Evaluating the Type and State of Alaska Tiaga Forests with Imaging Radar for Use in Ecosystem Flux Models, IEEE Transactions Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 353-370, March 1994. [Abstract] [umAlaska.pdf]
  
  
• Sarabandi, K., L. Pierce, Y. Oh, and F.T. Ulaby, ``Power lines: Radar measurements and detection algorithm for polarimetric SAR images,'' IEEE Trans. Aerospace and Electronic Sys., vol. 30, no. 2, 632-648, April 1994. [Abstract] [umPower.pdf]
  
  
• Pierce, L. E., F. T. Ulaby, K. Sarabandi, and M. C. Dobson, Knowledge-Based Classification of Polarimetric SAR Images, IEEE Transactions Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 1081-1086, Sept. 1994. [Abstract] [umKnowledge.ps.gz (2.5MB)] [umKnowledge.ps.zip (2.5MB)] [umKnowledgeBW.ps.gz (0.7MB)] [umKnowledgeBW.ps.zip (0.7MB)]
  
  
• Dobson, M. C., F. T. Ulaby, and L. E. Pierce, Land-Cover Classification and Estimation of Terrain Attributes Using Synthetic Aperture Radar, Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 199-214, Jan. 1995. [Abstract] [umClassEst.pdf]
  
  
• Dobson, M. C., L. E. Pierce, and F. T. Ulaby, Knowledge-Based Land-Cover Classification Using ERS-1/JERS-1 SAR Composites, IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 83 - 99, Jan. 1996. [Abstract] [umKnowlERS.pdf]
  
  
• Kasischke, E. S., J. M. Melack and M. C. Dobson, The Use of Imaging Radars for Ecological Applications - A Review, Remote Sensing of Environment, January 1996, accepted. [Abstract] [umEcology.pdf]
  
  
• Pierce, Leland, Kathleen Bergen, M. Craig Dobson, Fawwaz T. Ulaby, Multi-Temporal Land-Cover Classifiation using SIR-C/X-SAR Imagery, Remote Sensing of Environment, in press. [Abstract] [umMultitemp.pdf]
  
  
• Dobson, M. Craig, Leland E. Pierce, Fawwaz T. Ulaby, Evaluation of SAR Sensor Configurations for Terrain Classification and Forest Biophysical Retrievals, International Journal of Remote Sensing, submitted 3-98. [Abstract] [umSensconfig.pdf]