Comparison of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 L-band images for fuel moisture discrimination in forests in mountainous areas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Abstract

This study compares terrain-corrected polarimetric variables derived from L-band ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 acquired over a forested and mountainous region of southeast British Columbia (BC) during a drier and a wetter date. Backscatter, polarimetric decomposition parameters, and polarimetric discriminators were compared across 5 broad fuel types (forest, sparse, unforested, incomplete burn, complete burn) to examine if values differ between fuel moisture conditions as characterized by the value of the Drought Code (DC). Polarimetric variables suitable for use in fuel moisture modeling were identified using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test of significance applied to the normalized differences of these variables between 2 images. Values of linearly polarized backscatter, circularly polarized backscatter, and the parameters of the Van Zyl decomposition had relatively large normalized differences between 2 distinct DC values. The values of parameters of the Cloude–Pottier and Neumann decompositions did not differ between distinct DC values. Relatively large normalized differences occurred with polarimetric discriminators including the total power, maximum and minimum of scattering intensity, the maximum of power received, the maximum and minimum of the completely polarized component, and the maximum of the completely unpolarized component. Results differed by fuel type.

Publication Title

Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS