Repeat-pass interferometric coherence measurements of disturbed tropical forest from JERS and ERS satellites

The phase coherence between repeat-pass SAR observations of a tropical fore st region was investigated as a source of information for biophysical chara cteristics in regenerating and undisturbed areas of forest. SAR imagery was acquired and interferometric coherence maps were derived for a 1-day repea t pair at C-band, using ERS-1 and ERS-2, and for 44-day and 132-day repeats at L-band, using JERS. The backscattering coefficient and coherence charac teristics were analyzed in conjunction with biomass density estimates deter mined from field measurements and land cover characteristics derived from a n annual sequence of Landsat TM imagery. The results demonstrate that repea t-pass coherence adds significantly to the information available from SAR i magery of tropical forest. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 2000.