This study evaluates global radar‐derived digital elevation models (DEMs), namely the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), NASADEM and GLO‐30 DEMs. We evaluate their accuracy over bare‐earth terrain and characterize elevation biases induced by forests using global Lidar measurements from the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat)'s Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) and the ICESat‐2 Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instruments collected on locally flat terrain. Our analysis is based on error statistics calculated for each DEM tile, which are then summarized as global error percentiles, providing a regional characterization of DEM quality. We find NASADEM to be a significant improvement upon the SRTM V3. Over bare ground areas, the mean elevation bias and root mean square error (RMSE) improved from 0.68 to 2.50 m respectively to 0.00 and 1.5 m as compared to ICESat/GLAS. GLO‐30 is more accurate with bare ground elevation bias and RMSE were below 0.05 and 0.55 m. Similar improvements were observed when compared to GEDI and ICESat‐2 measurements. The DEM biases associated with the presence of vegetation vary linearly with canopy height, and more closely follow the percentile of Lidar Relative Height (RH50). Other factors such as canopy density, radar frequency and Lidar technology also contribute to observed elevation biases. This global analysis highlights the potential of various technologies for mapping of Earth's topography, and the need for more advanced remote sensing observations that can resolve vegetation structure and sub‐canopy ground elevation.

We present a flexible methodology to identify forest loss in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) L-band ALOS/PALSAR images. Instead of single pixel analysis, we generate spatial segments (i.e., superpixels) based on local image statistics to track homogeneous patches of forest across a time-series of ALOS/PALSAR images. Forest loss detection is performed using an ensemble of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) trained on local radar backscatter features derived from superpixels. This method is applied to time-series of ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 radar images over a boreal forest within the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve in Québec, Canada. We evaluate four spatial arrangements including (1) single pixels, (2) square grid cells, (3) superpixels based on segmentation of the radar images, and (4) superpixels derived from ancillary optical Landsat imagery. Detection of forest loss using superpixels outperforms single pixel and regular square grid cell approaches, especially when superpixels are generated from ancillary optical imagery. Results are validated with official Québec forestry data and Hansen et al. forest loss products. Our results indicate that this approach can be applied to monitor forest loss across large study areas using L-band radar instruments such as ALOS/PALSAR, particularly when combined with superpixels generated from ancillary optical data.

We introduce a multiscale superpixel approach that leverages repeat-pass interferometric coherence and sparse AGB estimates from a simulated spaceborne lidar in order to extend the NISAR mission’s applicable range of aboveground biomass (AGB) in tropical forests. Airborne and spaceborne L-band radar and full-waveform airborne lidar data are used to simulate the NISAR and GEDI mission, respectively. In addition to UAVSAR data, we use spaceborne ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 imagery with 14-day temporal baseline, which is comparable to NISAR’s 12-day baseline. Our reference AGB maps are derived from the airborne LVIS data during the AfriSAR campaign for three sites (Mondah, Ogooue, and Lope). Each tropical site has mean AGB of at least 125 Mg/ha in addition to areas with AGB exceeding 700 Mg/ha. Spatially sampling from these LVIS-derived AGB reference maps, we approximate GEDI AGB estimates. To evaluate our methodology, we perform several different analyses. First, we partition each study site into low (≤100 Mg/ha) and high (>100 Mg/ha) AGB areas, in conformity with the NISAR mission requirement to provide AGB estimates for forests between 0 and 100 Mg/ha with a RMSE below 20 Mg/ha. In the low AGB areas, this RMSE requirement is satisfied in Lope and Mondah and it fell short of the requirement in Ogooue by less 3 Mg/ha with UAVSAR and 6 Mg/ha with PALSAR-2. We note that our maps have finer spatial resolution (50 m) than NISAR requires (1 hectare). In the high AGB areas, the normalized RMSE increases to 51% (i.e., <90 Mg/ha), but with negligible bias for all three sites. Second, we train a single model to estimate AGB across both high and low AGB regimes simultaneously and obtain a normalized RMSE that is <60% (or <100 Mg/ha). Lastly, we show the use of both (a) multiscale superpixels and (b) interferometric coherence significantly improves the accuracy of the AGB estimates. The InSAR coherence improved the RMSE by approximately 8% at Mondah with both sensors, lowering the RMSE from 59 Mg/ha to 47.4 Mg/h with UAVSAR and from 57.1 Mg/ha to 46 Mg/ha. This work illustrates one of the numerous synergistic relationships between the spaceborne lidars, such as GEDI, with L-band SAR, such as PALSAR-2 and NISAR, in order to produce robust regional AGB in high biomass tropical regions.

Leveraging a cloud‐based interferometric synthetic aperture radar time‐series processing framework, we map the surface deformation along the western and central Aleutian volcanoes from 2015 to 2021. The observed crustal deformation from more than 15 volcanoes is attributed to a wide range of magmatic or tectonic processes, for example, magma accumulation in the magmatic reservoir, steady cooling or degassing of magma or hydrothermal systems, and faulting. More vigorous magmatism in the central Aleutian is noticed and appears to be related to higher magma production rates or higher magma ascent rates as a result of oblique subduction. New deformation patterns never observed in previous studies are detected and modeled at Tanaga, Great Sitkin and Yunaska. This study showcases the cloud‐processing capability to generate interferograms at scale and processing tools to analyze these time series over large, tectonically active areas.

We present Orinoco, an open-source Python toolkit that applies the fast-marching method to derive a river delta channel network from a water mask and ocean delineation. We are able to estimate flow direction, along-channel distance, channel width, and network-related metrics for deltaic analyses including the steady-state fluxes. To demonstrate the capabilities of the toolkit, we apply our software to the Wax Lake and Atchafalaya River Deltas using water masks derived from Open Street Map (OSM) and Google Maps. We validate our width estimates using the Global River Width from Landsat (GRWL) database over the Mackenzie Delta as well as in situ width measurements from the National Water Information System (NWIS) in the southeastern United States. We also compare the stream flow direction estimates using products from RivGraph, a related Python package with similar functionality. With the exciting opportunities afforded with forthcoming surface water and topography (SWOT) data, we envision Orinoco as a tool to support the characterization of the complex structure of river deltas worldwide and to make such analyses easily accessible within a Python remote sensing workflow. To support that end, all the data, analyses, and figures in this paper can be found within Jupyter notebooks at Orinoco’s GitHub repository.

This paper provides the innovative approach of using a spatial extract, transform, load (ETL) solution for 3D building modelling, based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetric point cloud. The main objective of the paper is to present the holistic workflow for 3D building modelling, emphasising the benefits of using spatial ETL solutions for this purpose. Namely, despite the increasing demands for 3D city models and their geospatial applications, the generation of 3D city models is still challenging in the geospatial domain. Advanced geospatial technologies provide various possibilities for the mass acquisition of geospatial data that is further used for 3D city modelling, but there is a huge difference in the cost and quality of input data. While aerial photogrammetry and airborne laser scanning involve high costs, UAV photogrammetry has brought new opportunities, including for small and medium-sized companies, by providing a more flexible and low-cost source of spatial data for 3D modelling. In our data-driven approach, we use a spatial ETL solution to reconstruct a 3D building model from a dense image matching point cloud which was obtained beforehand from UAV imagery. The results are 3D building models in a semantic vector format consistent with the OGC CityGML standard, Level of Detail 2 (LOD2). The approach has been tested on selected buildings in a simple semi-urban area. We conclude that spatial ETL solutions can be efficiently used for 3D building modelling from UAV data, where the data process model developed allows the developer to easily control and manipulate each processing step.