Wetland Mapping and Monitoring Using Advanced Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) Data and Techniques

Dear Colleagues,

Wetlands are complex ecosystems that represent a wide range of biophysical conditions. They are one of the most productive ecosystems and provide several important environmental functionalities. Studies shows that wetlands cover at least 7 million sq. km of the earth. However, wetlands are prone to an accelerated degradation due to many factors, including climate change, agriculturalization, and urbanization. As such, wetland mapping and monitoring using cost- and time-efficient approaches are of great interest for sustainable management and resource assessment. In this regard, satellite remotely sensed images are greatly beneficial, as they capture a synoptic and multitemporal view of landscapes.

The capability of optical remote sensing imagery is often hampered by atmospheric conditions (e.g., cloud cover and sun illumination), making them a less reliable source of data for wetlands studies. Accordingly, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors, which are independent of atmospheric conditions, have gained increasing attention for mapping, monitoring, and characterizing wetland ecosystems in recent years. Additionally, the capability of SAR wavelengths to penetrate through soil, water, and vegetation canopies makes them further advantageous compared to optical data for wetland monitoring.

Particularly, with the increasing availability of space borne SAR sensors, such as RADARSAT Constellation Mission (C-band), Sentinel-1(C-band), ALOS PALSAR (L-band), SAOCOM (L-band), TerraSAR-X (X-band), and the upcoming dual frequency NISAR (L+S-band), the use of SAR data and developing its processing techniques have drawn attention in recent years. As such, SAR data have been used either as the sole earth observation (EO) data or in combination with other EO data (e.g., optical and LiDAR) for understanding wetlands.

This Special Issue on “Wetland Mapping and Monitoring Using Advanced Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) Techniques” is focused on wetland classification, wetland vegetation characterization, wetland change detection, and wetland water level monitoring. We would like to invite articles on wetland-related studies using state-of-the-art SAR data and in combination with other data and techniques. Submissions are encouraged to cover a broad range of topics, which may include, without being limited to, the following subjects:

• Algorithm and application development for wetlands using SAR, PolSAR, and InSAR data and techniques;
• Multifrequency SAR fusion for wetland and its vegetation structure characterization;
• Investigation on spatial and temporal variability of wetland extent;
• Analysis of time series of SAR data for wetland cover extent monitoring;
• Developments of new machine learning and deep learning methods and tools for wetland classification and change detection;
• Large areas (regional and nationwide) wetland mapping and monitoring using SAR data on cloud computing platforms;
• Detection of long-term changes in wetland ecosystem as a response to climate change;
• State-of-the-art remote sensing technologies for monitoring water level changes.

Dr. Bahram Salehi
Dr. Masoud Mahdianpari
Dr. Fariba Mohammadimanesh
Dr Brian Brisco
Guest Editors

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• synthetic aperture RADAR (SAR)
• remote sensing
• wetland mapping and monitoring
• wetland classification
• polarimetric and interferometric SAR
• water level monitoring
• machine learning
• deep learning