Evaluation of RADARSAT Standard Beam data for identification of potato and rice crops in India

The Canadian satellite RADARSAT launched in November 1995 acquires C-band HH polarisation Synthetic Aperture Ž . Radar SAR data in various incident angles and spatial resolutions. In this study, the Standard Beam S7 SAR data with 458–498 incidence angle has been used to discriminate rice and potato crops grown in the Gangetic plains of West Bengal state. Four-date data acquired in the 24-day repeat cycle between January 2 and March 15, 1997 was used to study the temporal backscatter characteristics of these crops in relation to the growth stages. Two, three and four-date data were used to classify the crops. The results show that the backscatter was the lowest during puddling of rice fields and increased as the crop growth progressed. The backscatter during this period changed from y18 dB to y8 dB. This temporal behaviour was similar to that observed in case of ERS-SAR data. The classification accuracy of rice areas was 94% using four-date data. Two-date data, one corresponding to pre-field preparation and the other corresponding to transplantation stage, resulted in 92% accuracy. The last observation is of particular interest as one may estimate the crop area as early as within 20–30 days of transplantation. Such an early estimate is not feasible using optical remote sensing data or ERS-SAR data. The backscatter of potato crop varied from y9 dB to y6 dB during the growth phase and showed large variations during early vegetative stage. Two-date data, one acquired during 40–45 days of planting and another at maturing stage, resulted in 93% classification accuracy for potato. All other combinations of two-date data resulted in less than 90% classification accuracy for potato. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.