.c.Manaus, Brazil


Titles of Investigation:

I.  Determining the Extent of Inundation on Subtropical and
Tropical River Floodplains Beneath Vegetation of Varying
Types and Densities

II.  Global Biodiversity:  Assessment of Habitat Change and
Species Extinctions with Multiparameter Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR) Data

III.  Relating Radar Backscatter Responses to Woody and Foliar
Biomass of Forests

IV.  Information Extraction from Shuttle Radar Images for
Forest Applications

V.  Inflight Antenna Pattern Measurement for SIR-C

Principal Investigators:

I.  Dr. John Melack
  University of California - Santa Barbara

II.  Dr. Jack Paris
  California State University  Fresno

III.  Dr. Thuy LeToan
  Centre d'Etudes Spatiales des Rayonnements

IV.  Dr. Rudolf Winter
  DLR

V.  Dr. Richard Moore
  University of Kansas

Site Description:

 Manaus lies at the confluence of the Solimes and Negro
rivers, which combine to form the Amazon River.  These two
rivers are fringed by different wetlands.  The Solimes River
is rich in dissolved nutrients and suspended sediments and
has extensive, fertile floodplains.  A hydrologically and
geomorphologically defined floodplain reach is located about
150 km west of Manaus; the largest lake in the reach is called
Cabaliana, hence this is referred to as the Cabaliana floodplain.
 The Negro River is nutrient-poor and contains high concentrations
of dissolved organic carbon, hence is a black water river.
 About 100 km from Manaus, a large, forested archipelago
(Anavilhanas) begins and extends another 100 km upriver.


Objectives:

I.  a) Develop a procedure for recovering the presence, absence,
and patchy presence of water and its spatial distribution.

  b) Modify, extend, and verify our composite vegetation
radar model for different floodplain vegetation types and
densities.

  c) Couple the above modeling and discrimination procedures
for floodwater detection and delineation for input to conceptual
flood stage/flood area hydrologic models.

II.  a) Study the impact of tropical forest fragmentation
on the populations of endangered and threatened species of
certain mammals, butterflies, birds, and plants in these
habitats.

  b) Evaluate the use of the unique information about forest
distributions and stand conditions expected from multiparameter
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) relative to that from the
MSS and AVHRR.
III.  a) Demonstrate the use of spaceborne SAR images to
detect forest parameters.

  b) Increase our understanding of the interaction between
microwave and vegetation canopies.

IV.  a) Extract all possible information from shuttle-borne
radar images for areas with forest stands.

V.  a) Obtain vertical antenna patterns of the SIR-C/X-SAR
radars to allow improved radiometric calibration of data
for other investigations.

  b) Determine how much the vertical antenna pattern changes
after launch.

Field Measurements:

LeToan, Moore please provide if applicable

I.  a) Low level overflights and ground surveys to determine
extent of inundation.

  b) Measure characteristics of vegetation required for radar
models, i.e., number of trees of various sizes per ha, tree
diameters, crown thicknesses, branch sizes, leaf area, dielectric
constant.

II.  a) Field data will be collected on the response of subject
species to habitat fragmentation.

IV.  a) Classification results will be based mainly on SAR
information, however, non-satellite data (air photos, soil
maps, forest maps, and ground truth) will be used as reference
data and to verify the results.

Crew Observations:

1) Crew Journal: Document state of forest and agricultural
areas and note any burning activities or smoke near the site.
 Describe cloud cover, cloud types, and the presence of any
rain clouds.  Note any clearcut extent at the site.  Note
sunglint under forest as evidence for inundation.

2) Cameras: Hercules and Linhoff will be used to acquire
color and infrared photos of clouds and wetlands, and stereo
photos of forests.

Coverage Requirements:

The minimum coverage requirements for the Manaus, Brazil
test site are four (4) ascending or four (4) descending passes.

 Anticipated Results:

I.  a) Improve the monitoring of wetland hydrological regimes.

  b) Provide a quantitative assessment of the accuracies
of radar floodwater mapping beneath dense vegetation canopies.

  c) Use our backscatter model and field data to isolate
unique SAR backscatter signatures for changes in wetland
inundation and soil moisture.
II.  a) Provide valuable, relatively high spatial resolution
information about forest fragmentation conditions for use
in refining such estimates based on MSS and AVHRR data. 

  b) Provide valuable insight into the extended and broader
area usage of spacecraft SAR data (e.g., from the EOS SAR)
for studies of tropical forest type classification, biodiversity,
and species loss in future years (i.e., during the EOS era).


  c) Promote the use of remotely-sensed data for the study
of an important ecological issue --  the impact of cultural
activities on forest habitats and on the threatened and endangered
species that reside in these. 

III.  a) Demonstration of the use of multifrequency, multipolarization
and multi-incidence SIR-C/X-SAR data to probe different parts
of a forest canopy.

IV.  a) Differentiation of forested and non-forested areas
with an assessment of the accuracy of separation.

  b) Information on the tree stand geometry, age classes
of trees, and seasonal changes.

V.  a) Improve on antenna patterns produced preflight.

  b) Measure change in the antenna pattern between ground
and space conditions.