Estimating Vegetation Biomass Using Synthetic Aperture Radar

A significant experiment for evaluating the potential of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in monitoring soil and vegetation parameters is being carried out on an agricultural area located in Central Italy. The site has been imaged in 1991 by NASA/JPL AIRSAR during the MAC-91 Campaign and subsequently by ESA/ERS-1 and NASDA JERS-1 in 1992. The sensitivity to vegetation biomass of backscattering coefficient measured by ERS-1 and JERS-1 radars is discussed and compared with the best results achieved using the multifrequency polarimetric AIRSAR data.