The K&C PALSAR mosaic of the African continent: processing issues and first thematic results

Gianfranco D. de Grandi (1) , Alexandre Bouvet (1) , Richard M. Lucas (2) , Masanobu Shimada (3) , Stefano Monaco (4) , Ake Rosenqvist (5)

1 IES - JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability
2 DGES - Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
3 EORC - Earth Observation Research Center [Saitama]
4 sarmap
5 soloEO - solo Earth Observation

The Japan Space Exploration Agency Kyoto and Carbon (K&C) Initiative seeks to demonstrate the potential of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Arrayed L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data for addressing regional applications relating to climate change, carbon cycle science, and environmental conservation. This paper outlines the generation of a regional dual-polarization (HH and HV) mosaic for the entire African continent at spatial resolution on the order of 100 m. The main computational and radar science issues undertaken to generate a seamless mosaic with good radiometric and geometric accuracy are summarized. Preliminary investigations into the thematic information provided by the K&C Africa mosaic and comparisons with the JERS-1 SAR mosaic generated as part of the Global Rain Forest Mapping Project are reported, with emphasis placed on characterizing and detecting change in forests and savannas.

Keywords: Continental-scale radar mapping; Phased-Array L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR); synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mosaic processing; vegetation monitoring

Domains: Image Processing [eess.IV]

Gianfranco D. de Grandi, Alexandre Bouvet, Richard M. Lucas, Masanobu Shimada, Stefano Monaco, et al.. The K&C PALSAR mosaic of the African continent: processing issues and first thematic results. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2011, 49 (10), pp.3593-3610. ⟨10.1109/TGRS.2011.2165288⟩. ⟨hal-00629878⟩