A method to estimate forest biomass and its application to monitor Mongolian Taiga using JERS-1 SAR data

This study presents a technique and potential utilization of JERS-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for the estimation of Taiga species biomass in the Huvsgul Lake basin, Mongolia. In order to develop algorithms for estimating total stand biomass, shapes of the tree trunks were considered. A least-squares method was used to define tree trunk shape coefficients, which were then used to estimate total stand biomass using ground data. L-band data confirmed the backscattering coefficient to be dependent upon not only the quantity of biomass, but also tree parameters. The relationship between backscattering coefficient and forest stand biomass in slope areas of the study area was obtained.