S. Paloscia, AN EMPIRICAL-APPROACH TO ESTIMATING LEAF-AREA INDEX FROM MULTIFREQUENCY SAR DATA, International journal of remote sensing, 19(2), 1998, pp. 361-366
An empirical approach for estimating leaf area index from multifrequen
cy SAR data is presented. The analysis of multifrequency-multipolariza
tion SAR data, collected over agricultural fields revealed a correlati
on between the L-band backscattering coefficient and the leaf area ind
ex of certain types of crops. Since the C- and P-bands are also sensit
ive to vegetation biomass, the backscattering coefficient at P-, L- an
d C-bands has been related to a volumetric leaf area index (i.e., the
leaf area index multiplied by the average leaf thickness) normalized t
o the wave number. This relationship has been used to estimate the lea
f area index from multifrequency SAR data.