TanDEM-X Global Forest/Non-Forest Map Generation

Abstract

The interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission TanDEM-X has opened a new era in spaceborne radar remote sensing. Since end of 2010, the two SAR satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X have been flying in a controlled close orbit formation, acting as a large single-pass SAR interferometer. The acquired high-quality interferometric SAR data are not only a primary source to generate a global Earth’s Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with unprecedented accuracy, moreover, applications taking benefit from such data set at a global scale are on-going activities within the mission. By means of interferometric coherence and the derived volume correlation factor, it is possible to identify forested areas or regions characterized by the presence of snow and ice. In this paper, the approach followed to generate a first global TanDEM-X forest/non-forest map is presented and discussed.