Hyper-temporal radarsat SAR data of a forested terrain

A hyper-temporal dataset of 97 Radarsat C-Band SAR imagery (acquired during 1996-2004) and supporting ground data over an established test site at Petawawa Research Forest was assembled and used to examine the characteristics of multitemporal radar data. Consistent data sets can be created but the backscatter pattern over time can be strongly influenced by different environmental and phenological conditions. In this paper, the backscatter from different forest types and open areas were examined. Factors such as freezing temperatures, rain wetting, dew, wet snow, phenological condition and flooding cause anomalies and changes in backscatter pattern that affect applications such as land cover typing, temporal filtering, detecting changes and identifying specific ecological niches.