Sentinel-1 Land Applications based on Multi-temporal Data Acquisitions

Abstract:
The availability of reliable land-use information is crucial for a wide range of applications, like for example monitoring of land-use change and land degradation as well as administrative matters. Compared to optical remote sensing data, radar sensors can provide datasets with regular coverage of a specific area without suffering from missing images because of cloud cover. The regular coverage is crucial for the mapping of land-use characteristics using radar. The availability of a multi-temporal dataset allows high accuracy in mapping basic land-use classes and change, phonological stage of crops and biomass of crops and forests. This paper gives an overview of state-of-the-art methodologies for large area mapping of land cover characteristics with the radar sensors on board ERS-1/-2 and ASAR. Focus is on natural, vegetated surfaces excluding urban and built-up areas. The examples given demonstrate the added value to existing land cover products based on optical data when radar Earth observation is being introduced.