A HELICOPTER-BORNE 8-CHANNEL RANGING SCATTEROMETER FOR REMOTE-SENSING.2. FOREST INVENTORY

Forest inventory methods based on data acquired with an airborne rangi ng radar are discussed. The approach can be used to partly automate pr esent labor-dominated forest inventory methods. Using these methods, t he mean and dominant tree height can be measured with a standard devia tion of 1 m. The stem volume per hectare can be estimated with a relat ive accuracy of 15% by effectively counting the height distribution of the trees and by calculating the center of backscattered power from t he forest canopy profile for a stand with a diameter of 40 m. The meth ods have been developed using a helicopter-borne eight-channel ranging scatterometer HUTSCAT (Helsinki University of Technology SCATteromete r) which can measure a radar forest canopy profile (FCP) with a range resolution of 65 cm.