Global 3D Forest Structure Mapping with TANDEM-L: Monitorint the Earth's Dynamics

Abstract

Forest biomass plays a crucial role in the quantification of the terrestrial carbon budget. Today, forest biomass is poorly quantified across most parts of the Earth surface due to the great difficulties in measuring biomass on the ground and consistently aggregating measurements across scales. SAR satellites can provide the required information globally and frequent in order to quantify current biomass state and the changes. Tandem-L is a German mission proposal for an innovative interferometric L-band radar mission that enables the systematic monitoring of dynamic Earth processes using advanced techniques and technologies. The mission is science driven aiming to provide a unique data set for climate and environmental research, geodynamics, hydrology and oceanography. Important application examples are global forest height and structure and the derivation of forest biomass. The Tandem-L mission concept consists of two cooperating satellites flying in close formation. The 3 D structure mode provides a unique data source to observe and quantify changes in forest biomass. This paper provides an overview of the potential of using multi-parametric SAR for forest structure estimation with the derivation of forest biomass and suggests a mission for a global acquisition.