Country-Scale Mapping Of Forest Parameters Using Deep Learning And Tandem-X Insar Data

International audience Highly accurate estimates of canopy height (CH) and above ground biomass (AGB) are key parameters for forest disturbance analysis, resource monitoring, and carbon flux analyses. In this work we present a deep learning-based approach for mapping CH and AGB on country-scales from single-baseline, single-polarization, single-pass TanDEM-X InSAR data. The proposed approach consists in a convolutional neural network (CNN), trained and validated on the five test-sites covered by the 2016 AfriSAR campaign. The resulting performance is in line or better than those of current state-of-the-art approaches. The framework is subsequently deployed on a large-scale to map the entire country of Gabon (in West Central Africa), showcasing the flexibility, scalability, and accuracy of our proposed approach for forest parameter estimation.