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Accurate crop classification with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is a significant area of research and translating into practice from local to regional scale crop inventory mapping. With the growing accessibility to abundant data sources from both current and upcoming dual-polarimetric SAR missions, the capability to generate precise crop maps is set to enhance substantially. The geometric and dielectric properties of targets highly influence radar backscatter. Especially for agricultural crops, which exhibit dynamic changes in target properties and physiological structure throughout their phenology, discriminating between crops using SAR data remains a significant challenge. This study introduces a novel Gaussian process classifier model called the evidence modified Gaussian process classifier (EM-GPC) that employs a regression approach for multiclass crop classification with a modified evidence. We utilize dual-polarimetric SAR data acquired over two study sites to perform crop classification utilizing EM-GPC. At first, we perform a phenology-based single-date crop classification using ESAR C- and L-band SAR data acquired over the DEMMIN site in Germany. The performance evaluation of the EM-GPC model revealed robust accuracy during various crop phenological stages, showcasing its adaptability to temporal variations. Further, we perform a multidate crop classification using C-band RADARSAT-2 and L-band simulated NISAR product from UAVSAR data acquired over Manitoba, Canada. In this study, EM-GPC successfully classifies major crop types (wheat, canola, soybeans, corn, barley, oats, and rye). The efficacy of the proposed model establishes its capability for crop classification utilizing dual-polarimetric SAR data in operational settings.

Accurate mapping of forest above ground biomass (AGB) is essential for understanding changes in the rate of ecosystem processes such as biomass productivity, litter productivity, actual litter decomposition, and potential litter decomposition during secondary succession. They also play a vital role in evaluating forest carbon pools. This study presents a Matérn kernel-based Gaussian process regression (GPR) approach for biomass estimation integrating Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter intensities with LiDAR measurements. We use the backscatter intensities from five scenes of L-band Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) simulated NISAR data collected during the 2019 AM–PM NASA airborne campaign. The biomass map derived from LVIS (Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor) Lidar point clouds over the Lenoir landing site, Alabama, was used with these simulated NISAR data. We have utilized the GPR model to estimate the AGB of the entire forest alongside the major forest classes in the study area, namely deciduous, evergreen, and woody wetlands. To examine the dependency of the model on acquisition conditions, we calibrated and validated our proposed model utilizing scene combinations. The experiment shows that multiple-scene retrieval delivered improved AGB estimates compared to single-scene retrieval. We evaluated the efficacy of the GPR model for three AGB ranges, i.e., (i) 8to100Mgha−1, (ii) 8to230Mgha−1, and (iii) 8to470Mgha−1 at 20m, 30m, 50m and 100m spatial resolution, respectively. The results indicate that the RMSE incurred by the GPR model for all these AGB ranges seemed to reduce as we increased spatial extent or reduced spatial resolution from 20m to 100m. Further, we demonstrate the performance of the optimized GPR model to retrieve AGB within the biomass range of 8Mgha−1 to 100Mgha−1 for all the above-mentioned forest types. Finally, this research highlights the advantages of the Matérn kernel-based GPR model over other statistical regression models towards improved AGB mapping.

Biophysical parameter retrieval using remote sensing has long been utilized for crop yield forecasting and economic practices. Remote sensing can provide information across a large spatial extent and in a timely manner within a season. Plant Area Index (PAI), Vegetation Water Content (VWC), and Wet-Biomass (WB) play a vital role in estimating crop growth and helping farmers make market decisions. Many parametric and non-parametric machine learning techniques have been utilized to estimate these parameters. A general non-parametric approach that follows a Bayesian framework is the Gaussian Process (GP). The parameters of this process-based technique are assumed to be random variables with a joint Gaussian distribution. The purpose of this work is to investigate Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) models to retrieve biophysical parameters of three annual crops utilizing combinations of multiple polarizations from C-band SAR data. RADARSAT-2 full-polarimetric images and in situ measurements of wheat, canola, and soybeans obtained from the SMAPVEX16 campaign over Manitoba, Canada, are used to evaluate the performance of these GPR models. The results from this research demonstrate that both the full-pol (HH+HV+VV) combination and the dual-pol (HV+VV) configuration can be used to estimate PAI, VWC, and WB for these three crops.