The K&C PALSAR Mosaic of the African Continent: Processing Issues and First Thematic Results

The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) Kyoto and Carbon (K&C) Initiative seeks to demonstrate the potential of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Arrayed L-band SAR (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 polarisation (HH and HV) mosaic for the entire African continent at spatial resolution in 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 summarised. 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 RainForest Mapping (GRFM) project are reported, with emphasis placed on characterising and detecting change in forests and savannas.

DE GRANDI Gianfranco;  BOUVET Alexandre;  LUCAS Richard;  SHIMADA Masanobu;  MONACO Stefano;  ROSENQVIST Ake; 

2011-09-30

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

JRC61039

0196-2892,   

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=5758802&tag=1,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC61039,   

10.1109/TGRS.2011.2165288,