ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 Long-term Pantropical Observation – A Paradigm Shift in Global Forest Monitoring

Inhalt:
The reliability of SAR forest monitoring applications in the tropics is largely hampered by misinterpreted spatial-temporal backscatter fluctuations. To help overcome these problems in preparation for the golden age of L-band SAR, this paper presents a timely overview of the revolutionary contributions by the world’s first L-band long-term forest monitoring mission. 7.5 years in orbit, ALOS-2 has acquired unprecedented time-series data for the entire equatorial belt. Exploiting over 500 TB of massive multi-temporal PALSAR-2 ScanSAR images, we demonstrate the paramount potential of L-band time-series to account and correct for all uncertainties driven by seasonality, rainfall, and flooding.