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Abstract
This paper discusses the relationship between SAR and optical data for an Amazonian test‐site with different land cover types. L‐band HH JERS‐1 SAR and Landsat TM images acquired few days apart from each other in 1994 and 1997 were analyzed. Landsat TM fraction images (vegetation, soil, and shade) were used to characterize the terrain features in the study area. Based on 220 samples randomly distributed over different land cover types in the fraction and SAR bands, a regression analysis was performed. Consistent results between SAR data and fraction images suggest that L‐band SAR data may be a complementary source of information for mapping land cover changes in Amazônia, especially to monitor deforestation in areas frequently blurred by cloud cover in optical images.
Acknowledgments
JERS‐1 SAR images were provided by the Earth Observation Research and Application Center (EORC) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), within the framework of the JERS‐1 SAR Global Rain Forest Mapping (GRFM) Project, and Landsat‐TM images were provided by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The authors also thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.