Characterizing Peat Swamp Forest Physiognomies with Multiple Remote Sensing Data
Liesenberg, Veraldo¹; Boehm, Viktor²; Limin, Suwido^3
1TU Bergakademie Freiberg, GERMANY; ²Kalteng Concultants, GERMANY; ³Universitas Palangka Raya / CIMTROP, INDONESIA

We evaluated the potential of the Advanced Land-Observing Satellite (ALOS) on board the Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR; L-band), the Advanced SAR (ASAR; C-band) on board the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) and TerraSAR-X (X-band) for the characterization of peat swamp forest (PSF) physiognomies. As a test site we selected the Sabangau National Forest (SNF) located in Central Kalimantan (Indonesia). Airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) acquired on August 2007 and 2011 over the area were used for validation purposes. LiDAR derived Canopy Height Model (CHM) and Intensity as well as high resolution photographs were useful for the characterization of the vertical structure of the vegetation and for the identification of small threats in the forest. Intensity backscattering, polarimetric features and texture were related with in-situ measured biophysical parameters [e.g. above ground biomass (AGB) and plant area index (PAI)]. The measurements were conducted across a peat dome from August to September, 2011. PSF physiognomies ranged from the riverine forest towards the low pole, mixed PSF, tall pole and burnt scar. The results may help to better understand the current capabilities and limitations of joint analysis of airborne LiDAR and SAR data and performs even better forest characterization and thus encourage the further development of joint techniques under the "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation" (REDD+) protocols.