Abstract
Peatlands are an important multipurpose ecosystem, supporting huge quantities of biomass and peat soil carbon. A time series of Japanese Earth Resource Satellite-1 (JERS-1) L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data was employed to monitor two dynamic ecosystem processes; deforestation and inundation patterns. Using a change detection analysis for three images acquired during dry seasons of 1994, 1997 and 1998, we detected the deforestation that has occurred in the region due to the anthropogenic and natural causes. At a threshold of ±2 dB change in backscattering response, an area of about 98 km2 of these forests was found to have been cleared during 1994–1997 for conversion to cultivatable lands. However, the agricultural crops miserably failed to grow on these cleared lands because of the adverse water and soil chemistry conditions. The deliberate draining of these lands, by laying and extension of a huge network of canals, created congenial ecological conditions for the spread of forest fires, particularly during the 1997 El Niño period. An area of 250 km2 of forests was thus detected to have been destroyed by these fires between September 1997 and January 1998. These deforested lands are rapidly regenerating since their abandonment and the regenerating carbon stocks were simulated using the CENTURY ecosystem dynamics model. Furthermore, the L-band SAR was able to detect the pixel-wise seasonal and spatial inundation information for particular forest types where the transmissivity of the L-band SAR signals was quite significant. These forest types corresponded to comparatively low biomass areas. The SAR derived information about these two important dynamic processes would be useful for improving the accuracy of modelling the spatial and temporal distribution of the carbon and other trace gases in these ecosystems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alm J, Schulman L, Walden J, Nykänen N, Martikainen PJ, Silvola J (1999) Carbon balance of a boreal bog during a year with an exceptionally dry summer. Ecology 80:161–174
Asdak C (1995) Rainfall interception loss of tropical forests of central Kalimantan (Part I). Indones J Geogr 27(70):27–36
Boehm HDV, Siegert F (2000) Applications of remote sensing and GIS to monitor peatland multi-temporal in Central Kalimantan, Proceedings of the TROPEAT-Conference, Bogor Indonesia, 21–22 November, 1999
Boehm HDV, Siegert F, Rieley JO, Page SE, Jauhiainen J, Vasander H, Jaya A (2001) Fire impacts and carbon release on tropical peatlands in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Proceedings of the 22nd Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, 5–9 November, Singapore, 2001
Botch MS, Kobak KI, Vinson TS, Kolchugina TP (1995) Carbon pools and accumulation in peatlands of the former Soviet Union. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 9:37–46
Bruenig EF (1990) Oligotrophic forested wetlands in Borneo. In: Lugo AE, Brinson M, Brown S (eds) Ecosystems of the world. Forested wetland. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 299–334
Canadell JG, Mooney HA, Baldocchi DD, Berry JA, Ehleringer JR, Field CB, Gower ST, Hollinger, DY, Hunt JE, Jackson RB, Running SW, Shaver GR, Steffen W, Trumbore SE, Valentini R, Bond BY (2000) Carbon metabolism of the terrestrial biosphere: a multi-technique approach for improved understanding. Ecosystems 3:115–130
Chimner RA, Cooper DJ, Parton WJ (2002) Modelling carbon accumulation in Rocky Mountain Fens. Wetlands 22(1):100–110
Clymo RS, Turunen J, Tolonen K (1998) Carbon accumulation in peatland. Oikos 81:368–388
Cramer W, Kicklighter DW, Bondeau A, Moore B, Chukina G, Nemry B, Ruimy A, Schloss AL, Friend A, and the Participants of Potsdam NPP Model Intercomparison (1999) Comparing global models of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP): an overview and key results. Glob Change Biol 5:1–15
Cramer W, Bondeau A, Woodward FI, Prentice IC, Richard AB, Brovkin V, Cox PM, Fisher V, Foley JA, Friend AD, Kucharik C, Lomas MR, Ramankutty N, Sitch S, Smith B, White A, Young-Molling C (2001) Global response of terrestrial ecosystem structure and function to carbon dioxide and climate change: results from six dynamic global vegetation models. Glob Change Biol 7(4):357–373
DeFries RS, Field CB, Fung I, Justice CO, Los S, Matson PA, Matthews E, Mooney HA, Potter CS, Prentice K, Sellers PJ, Townshend J, Tucker C, Ustin S, Vitousek P (1995) Mapping the land surface for global atmosphere-biosphere models: towards continuous distribution of vegetation functional properties. J Geophys Res 100(D10):20867–20882
Eberlein RB, Weszka JS (1975). Mixtures of derivative operators as edge detectors. Comput Graph Image Processing 4:180–183
Ford JP, Casey DJ (1988) Shuttle radar mapping with diverse incidence angle in the rainforest of Borneo. Int J Remote Sens 5:246–257
Francez AJ, Vasander H (1995) Peat accumulation and peat decomposition after human disturbances in French and Finnish mires. Acta Ecologica 16:599–608
French NH, Kasischke ES, Bourgeau-Chavez LL, Harrel PA (1996) Sensitivity of ERS-1 SAR to variation in soil water in fire disturbed boreal forest ecosystems. Int J Remote Sens 17:3037–3053
Frolking S, Roulet NT, Moore TR, Pierre, JH, Lavoie M, Muller SD (2001) Modelling northern peatland decomposition and peat accumulation. Ecosystems 4:479–498
Frolking S, Roulet NT, Moore TR, Lafleur P, Bubier JL, Crill PM (2002) Modelling the seasonal to annual carbon balance of Mer Bleue Bog, Ontario, Canada. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 16(3):10.1029
Gorham E (1991) Northern peatlands: a role in the carbon cycle and probable responses to climatic warning. Ecological Appl 1:182–195
Grover K, Quegan S, Freitas C (1999) Quantitative estimation of tropical forest cover by SAR. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 37(1):479–490
Haraguchi A, Shimada S, Takahashi H (2000) Distribution of peat and its chemical properties around Lahei in the catchment of the Mangkutup River, Central Kalimantan. Tropics 10(2):265–272
Hess LL, Melack JM, Simonett D (1990) Radar detection of flooding beneath the forest canopy: a review. Int J Remote Sens 11(7):1313–1325
Hess LL, Melack JM, Filoso S, Wang Y (1995) Delineation of inundated area and vegetation along the Amazon floodplain with SIR-C synthetic aperture radar. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 33(1):896–904
Hoekman DH, Quinones JM (2000) Land cover type and biomass classification using AirSAR data for evaluation of monitoring scenarios in Colombian Amazon. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 38(2):685–696
Houghton RA, Hackler JL (1999) Emission of carbon from forestry and land-use change in tropical Asia. Glob Change Biol 5:481–492
Immirzi P, Maltby E (1992) The global status of peatlands and their role in carbon cycling. Report No. II, the Wetland Ecosystem Research Group, University of Exeter, UK
Karam AM, Amar F, Fung AK, Lang RH, Chauhan NS (1995) A microwave polarimetric scattering model for forest canopies based on vector radiative transfer theory. Remote Sens Environ 53:16–30
Kasischke ES, Melack MJ, Dobson MC (1997) Use of imaging radars for ecological applications-a review. Remote Sens Environ 59:141–156
Kuntz S, Siegert F (1996) Dipterocarp forest mapping and monitoring by satellite data: a case study from East Kalimantan. In: Dipterocarpus forest ecosystems: towards sustainable management. World Scientific Publications, Singapore, pp 206–227
Kuntz S, Siegert F (1999) Monitoring of deforestation and land use in Indonesia with multi-temporal ERS data. Int J Remote Sens 20(14):2835–2853
Lang RH, Sidhu J (1983) Electromagnetic backscattering from a layer of vegetation: a discrete approach. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 21(1):62–71
Le Toan (2001) The relationships between radar measurements and forest structure and biomass. Proceedings of the 3rd ESA international symposium on retrieval of bio-and geophysical parameters from SAR data for land applications, 11–14 September, Sheffied, UK, pp 3–12
McDonald KC, Ulaby FT (1993) Radiative transfer modelling of discontinuous tree canopies at microwave frequencies. Int J Remote Sens 14(11):2097–2120
Maltby E, Proctor MCF (1996) Peatlands: their nature and role in the biosphere. In: Lappalainen E (ed) Global peat resources. International Peat Society and Geological Survey of Finland, Jyska, Finland, pp 11–19
Myneni RB, Dong J, Tucker CJ, Kaufmann RK, Kauppi PE, Liski J, Zhou L, Alexeyev V, Hughes MK (2001) A large carbon sink in woody biomass of northern forests. Proceedings of the national academic of sciences (PNAS) of the USA, 98(26):14784–14789
Neuzil SG (1997) Onset and rate of peat and carbon accumulation in four domed ombrogenous peat deposits, Indonesia. In: Rieley JO, Page PE (eds) Biodiversity and sustainability of tropical peatlands. Samara Publishing Limited, Cardigan, UK, pp 55–72
Notohadirprawiro T (1998) Conflict between problem-solving and optimizing approach to land resource development- the case of Central Kalimantan wetlands. In: Sopo R (ed) The sprit of wetlands, Proceedings of the International Peat Symposium, Jyvaskyl Finland, 7–9 September 1998, International Peat Society, Jyvaskyla, Finland, pp 14–24
Oh Y, Sarabandi K, Ulaby FT (1992) An empirical model and an inversion technique for radar scattering from bare soil surfaces. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 30(2):113–123
Ormsby JP, Blanchard BJ, Blanchard AJ (1985) Detection of lowland flooding using active microwave systems. Photogram Eng Remote Sens 51:317–328
Page SE, Rieley JO (1998) Tropical peatlands: a review of their natural resources functions with particular reference to Southeast Asia. Int Peat J 8:95–106
Page SE, Rieley JO, Boehm V, Siegert F, Muhamad Z (2000) Impact of the 1997 fires on peatlands of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. In: Rochefort L, Daigle JY (eds) Sustaining our peatlands, Proceedings of 11th International Peat Congress, Canadian Society of Peat and Peatlands, Quebec, Canada, pp 962–970
Parton WJ, Scurlock MO, Ojima DS, Gilmanov TG, Scholes RJ, Schimel DS, Kirchner T, Menaut JC, Seastedt T, Moya EG, Kamnalrut A, and Kinyamario JI (1993) Observations and modelling of biomass and soil organic matter dynamics for the grassland biome worldwide. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 7(4):785–809
Parton WJ, Woomer PL, Martin A (1994) Modelling soil organic matter dynamics and plant productivity in tropical ecosystem. In: Woomer PL, Swift MJ (eds) Biological management of soil fertility. Wiley, New York, pp 171–188
Post WM, Emanuel WR, Zinke PJ, Stageberger AG (1982) Soil carbon pools and world life zones. Nature 298:156–159
Potter CM, Bubier LL, Crill PM, Lafleur P (2001) Ecosystem modelling of methane and carbon dioxide fluxes for boreal forest sites. Can J Forest Res 31:208–223
Richards JA, Sun GQ, Simonett DS (1987) An explanation of enhanced radar backscattering from flooded forest. Int J Remote Sens 8:1093–1100
Rieley JO, Ahmad-Shah A (1996) The vegetation of tropical peat swamp forest. In: Maltby E, Immirizi CP, Safford RM (eds) Tropical lowland peat lands of Southeast Asia. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, pp 55–73
Rieley JO, Sieffermann RG, Page SE (1992) The origin, development, present status and the importance of lowland peat swamp forests of Borneo. Suo 43:241–244
Rieley JO, Page SE, Limin, SH, Winarti S (1997) The peatland resource of Indonesia and the Kalimantan peat swamp forest research project. In: Rieley JO, Page PE (eds) Biodiversity and sustainability of tropical peatlands. Samara Publishing Limited, Cardigan, UK, pp 37–44
Rignot E, Salas WA, Skole DL (1997) Mapping deforestation and secondary growth in Rondonia, Brazil, using imaging radar and Thematic Mapper data. Remote Sens Environ 59:167–179
Romshoo SA, Shimada M (2003) Monitoring peatland forest ecosystem dynamics using L-band SAR data. Proceedings of the IEEE GRSS, Japan SAR Workshop 2003, Tokyo, Japan, 16–17 January, 2003, pp 38–44
Rosenqvist A, Birkett CM (2002) Evaluation of JERS-1 SAR mosaics for hydrological application in the Congo River basin. Int J Remote Sens 23(7):1283–1302
Rosenqvist A, Forsberg BR, Pimentel T, Rauste YA, Richey JE (2002) The use of spaceborne radar data to model inundation patterns and trace gas emissions in the central Amazon floodplain. Int J Remote Sens 23(7):1303–1328
Schimel DS (1995) Terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle. Glob Change Biol 1:77–91
Schimel DS, House J, Hibbard K, Bousquet P, Ciais P, Peylin P, Braswell B, Apps M, Baker D, Bondeau A, Canadell J, China G, Cramer W, Denning A, Field C, Friedlingstein P, Goodale C, Heimann M, Houghton R, Melillo J, Moore III B, Murdiyarso D, Nobble I, Pacala S, Prentice I, Raupach M, Rayner P, Scholes R, Steffen W, Wirth C (2001) Recent patterns and mechanisms of carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems. Nature 414:169–172
Schindele W, Thoma W, Panzer K (1989) The Kalimantan forest fire of 1982–83 in East Kalimantan, Part I: the fire, the effects, the damage and technical solutions. FR Report No 5, German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ)/ITTO, Jakarta, Indonesia
Schmullius C, Baker J, Balzter H, Davidson M, Gaveau D, Gluck M, Holz A, Le Toan T, Luckman A, Marschalk U, Nilsson S, Quegan S, Rauste Y, Roth A, Rozhkov V, Sokolov V, Shivdenko A, Suding V, Strozzi T, Tansey K, Vielmeier J, Voloshuk W, Wegmuller U, Wiesmann A, Yu JJ (2001) SIBERIA-SAR imaging for boreal ecology and radar interferometry applications. Final Report of European Commission 4th framework project ENV4-CT98–0743 (DG12-EHKN)
Shepherd PA, Rieley JO, Page SE (1997) The relationship between the forest vegetation and peat characteristics in the upper catchments of Sungai Sebangau, Central Kalimantan. In: Rieley JO, Page PE (eds) Biodiversity and sustainability of tropical peatlands. Samara Publishing Limited, Cardigan, UK, pp 191–209
Shimada S, Takahashi H, Haraguchi A, Kaneko M (2001) The carbon content characteristics of tropical peats in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia: estimating their spatial variability in density. Biogeochem 53:249–267
Shimada M, Minamisawa M, Isoguchi O (2000) A study on estimating the forest fire scar in east Kalimantan using JERS-1 SAR data. Proceedings of the workshop on SAR interferometry and its application, EORC NASDA, Tokyo Japan, 7–8 September 2000
Shimada M (1996) Radiometric and geometric calibration of JERS-1 SAR. Adv Space Res 17:79–88
Siegert F, Ruecker G (2000) Use of multitemporal ERS-2 SAR images for identification of burned scars in Southeast Asian tropical rainforest. Int J Remote Sens 20(4):831–837
Skole D, Salas WA, Silapathong C (1998) Inter-annual variation in the terrestrial carbon cycle: significance of Asian tropical forest conversion to imbalances in the global carbon budget. In: Galloway J, Melillo J (eds) Asian change in the context of global change, Cambridge University Press, pp 162–186
Skole D, Tucker C (1993) Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in Amazon: satellite data from 1978 to 1988. Science 260:1905–1910
Sorensen KW (1993) Indonesian peat swamp forests and their role as a carbon sink. Chemosphere 27(6):1065–1082
Suzuki E, Kohyama H, Simbolon H, Haraguchi A, Tsuyuzaki S, Nishimura T (1998) Vegetation of Kerangas and peat swamp forests in Lahei, Central Kalimantan. In: Environmental conservation and land use management of wetland ecosystem in Southeast Asia. Hokkaido University, Japan
Takahashi H, Yonetani Y (1997) Studies on microclimate and hydrology of peat swamp forests in Central Kalimantan. In: Rieley JO, Page PE (eds) Biodiversity and sustainability of tropical peatlands. Samara Publishing Limited, Cardigan, UK, pp 179–187
Thormann MN, Bayley SE (1997) Above ground net primary production along a bog-fen-marsh gradient in southern boreal Alberta, Canada. Ecosci 4:374–384
Ulaby FT, Moore RK, Fung AK (1986) Microwave remote sensing: active and passive, vol II, Artech House, Inc, Norwood, MA
Ulaby FT, Sarabandi K, McDonald K, Whitt M, Dobson MC (1990) Michigan microwave canopy scattering model. Int J Remote Sens 17(11):1223–1255
Vasander H, Jauhianinen J (2001) Measuring CO2 emission in tropical peatlands. In: Proceedings of the international conference on tropical peat swamps: safeguarding a global natural resource, 27–19 July 1999, Penang, Malaysia
Wang Y, Hess L, Filoso S, Melack J (1995) Understanding the radar backscattering from flooded and non-flooded Amazonian forest: results from canopy backscatter modelling. Remote Sens Environ 54:324–332
Way J, Rignot EJM, McDonald KC, Oren R, Kwok R, Bonan G, Dobson C, Viereck LA, Roth JE (1994) Evaluating the type and state of Alaska Taiga forests with imaging radar for use in ecosystem models. IEEE Trans Geosci Rem Sens 32:353–370
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Edited by D. Boyd
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Romshoo, S.A. Radar remote sensing for monitoring of dynamic ecosystem processes related to biogeochemical exchanges in tropical peatlands. Vis Geosci 9, 9–28 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10069-003-0015-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10069-003-0015-9