Separability of insular Southeast Asian woody plantation species in the 50 m resolution ALOS PALSAR mosaic product

Abstract

Four types of woody plantations dominate in insular Southeast Asia: oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), wattles (Acacia spp.) and coconut (Cocos nucifera). Because of the economic importance and socio-environmental controversies related particularly to oil palm cultivation, capability to perform large-scale plantation monitoring is urgently needed in this region. In this letter we report initial findings on the potential of Daichi-Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data for regional level woody plantation monitoring. We found very high separability between rubber, wattles and palms (oil palm and coconut combined) in known closed canopy plantation areas using the annually created 50 m resolution orthorectified mosaic products. Further investigation is needed to find the best ways to implement this ability in practice. Nevertheless, the findings may enable regional plantation monitoring in insular Southeast Asia at an unprecedented level of accuracy and detail. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.