Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations
Spaceborne remote sensing can track ecosystems changes thanks to continuous and systematic coverage at short revisit intervals. Active remote sensing from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors allows day and night imaging as they are not affected by cloud cover and solar illumination and can captur...
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doaj-b3e189333f4c42e9a1720657698dbaa62020-11-25T02:29:59ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-09-01123016301610.3390/rs12183016Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence ObservationsIgnacio Borlaf-Mena0Maurizio Santoro1Ludovic Villard2Ovidiu Badea3Mihai Andrei Tanase4Romanian National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, INCDS “Marin Drăcea”, Department of Forest Monitoring, Bulevardul Eroilor 128, 077190 Voluntari, RomaniaGamma Remote Sensing, Worbstrasse 225, 3073 Gümligen, SwitzerlandCentre d’Etudes Spatiales de la Biosphère, 31400 Toulouse, FranceRomanian National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, INCDS “Marin Drăcea”, Department of Forest Monitoring, Bulevardul Eroilor 128, 077190 Voluntari, RomaniaRomanian National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, INCDS “Marin Drăcea”, Department of Forest Monitoring, Bulevardul Eroilor 128, 077190 Voluntari, RomaniaSpaceborne remote sensing can track ecosystems changes thanks to continuous and systematic coverage at short revisit intervals. Active remote sensing from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors allows day and night imaging as they are not affected by cloud cover and solar illumination and can capture unique information about its targets. However, SAR observations are affected by the coupled effect of viewing geometry and terrain topography. The study aims to assess the impact of global digital elevation models (DEMs) on the normalization of Sentinel-1 backscattered intensity and interferometric coherence. For each DEM, we analyzed the difference between orbit tracks, the difference with results obtained with a high-resolution local DEM, and the impact on land cover classification. Tests were carried out at two sites located in mountainous regions in Romania and Spain using the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, 30 m), AW3D (ALOS (Advanced Land Observation Satellite) World 3D, 30 m), TanDEM-X (12.5, 30, 90 m), and Spain national ALS (aerial laser scanning) based DEM (5 m resolution). The TanDEM-X DEM was the global DEM most suitable for topographic normalization, since it provided the smallest differences between orbital tracks, up to 3.5 dB smaller than with other DEMs for peak landform, and 1.4–1.9 dB for pit and valley landforms.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/18/3016synthetic aperture radar (SAR), radiometric terrain normalizationdigital elevation model (DEM), coherencebackscatterSentinel-1LiDARland cover classification |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ignacio Borlaf-Mena Maurizio Santoro Ludovic Villard Ovidiu Badea Mihai Andrei Tanase |
spellingShingle |
Ignacio Borlaf-Mena Maurizio Santoro Ludovic Villard Ovidiu Badea Mihai Andrei Tanase Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations Remote Sensing synthetic aperture radar (SAR), radiometric terrain normalization digital elevation model (DEM), coherence backscatter Sentinel-1 LiDAR land cover classification |
author_facet |
Ignacio Borlaf-Mena Maurizio Santoro Ludovic Villard Ovidiu Badea Mihai Andrei Tanase |
author_sort |
Ignacio Borlaf-Mena |
title |
Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations |
title_short |
Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations |
title_full |
Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations |
title_fullStr |
Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Investigating the Impact of Digital Elevation Models on Sentinel-1 Backscatter and Coherence Observations |
title_sort |
investigating the impact of digital elevation models on sentinel-1 backscatter and coherence observations |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Remote Sensing |
issn |
2072-4292 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
Spaceborne remote sensing can track ecosystems changes thanks to continuous and systematic coverage at short revisit intervals. Active remote sensing from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors allows day and night imaging as they are not affected by cloud cover and solar illumination and can capture unique information about its targets. However, SAR observations are affected by the coupled effect of viewing geometry and terrain topography. The study aims to assess the impact of global digital elevation models (DEMs) on the normalization of Sentinel-1 backscattered intensity and interferometric coherence. For each DEM, we analyzed the difference between orbit tracks, the difference with results obtained with a high-resolution local DEM, and the impact on land cover classification. Tests were carried out at two sites located in mountainous regions in Romania and Spain using the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, 30 m), AW3D (ALOS (Advanced Land Observation Satellite) World 3D, 30 m), TanDEM-X (12.5, 30, 90 m), and Spain national ALS (aerial laser scanning) based DEM (5 m resolution). The TanDEM-X DEM was the global DEM most suitable for topographic normalization, since it provided the smallest differences between orbital tracks, up to 3.5 dB smaller than with other DEMs for peak landform, and 1.4–1.9 dB for pit and valley landforms. |
topic |
synthetic aperture radar (SAR), radiometric terrain normalization digital elevation model (DEM), coherence backscatter Sentinel-1 LiDAR land cover classification |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/18/3016 |
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