Submitted by Romulus Lima (romulus.lima@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-04T18:14:30Z No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO Bruna Patrícia Barbosa de Alencar.pdf: 2179196 bytes, checksum: 8c3cf557099a57319a7f100868e020c5 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-04T18:14:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO Bruna Patrícia Barbosa de Alencar.pdf: 2179196 bytes, checksum: 8c3cf557099a57319a7f100868e020c5 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-26 / As imagens de RADAR são uma alternativa para a realização de mapeamentos em áreas de grande cobertura de nuvens, inerentes às imagens de sensores passivos. Entretanto, devido à variação de declive dos terrenos, que influência o ângulo de incidência do feixe emitido pelo RADAR, alguns erros geométricos ocorrem nas imagens. Esses erros são o encurtamento de rampa, inversão do relevo e o sombreamento. O objeto de estudo desta dissertação é a análise da ocorrência da sombra nas imagens ALOS/PALSAR, por ser uma área que não tem sinal de retorno e por gerar confusão no mapeamento de áreas como, por exemplo, as de vegetação. O sombreamento pode ocorrer em regiões de terreno movimentado e onde a face do relevo está voltada perpendicularmente ao pulso enviado pela antena ALOS/PALSAR. Para analisar a geração da sombra, são estudadas duas áreas de terreno movimentado. As áreas estão nos municípios de Petrolândia em Pernambuco e Glória na Bahia. Elas apresentam relevo ondulado controlado por zonas de cisalhamento, dobramentos e falhas geológicas. Uma metodologia de detecção da sombra ALOS/PALSAR é realizada, através da binarização da imagem ALOS/PALSAR supondo que para a área de sombra o retorno de sinal é muito baixo. Curvas de nível, mapa de orientação de vertentes e mapa de declividade foram adquiridos do projeto TOPODATA para verificar as características do terreno que influenciam na ocorrência do sombreamento, a escala utilizada foi de 1:100000. As imagens LANDSAT5/TM permitiram localizar as feições e compará-las com as regiões de sombra localizadas nas imagens ALOS/PALSAR. A área de sombra foi identificada na região de declividade, predominantemente, maior que 75% e nas orientações Sudeste e Sul. Os dados de orientação de vertentes e declividade serviram como dados fundamentais na identificação das áreas de sombra, juntamente com a imagem binarizada para identificar o baixo retorno do sinal que ocorre nas imagens de RADAR.

Hydrological modelling is a powerful tool for hydrologists and engineers involved in the planning and development of integrated approach for the management of water resources. With the recent advent of computational power and the growing availability of spatial data, RS and GIS technologies can augment to a great extent the conventional methods used in rainfall runoff studies; it is possible to accurately describe watershed characteristics in particularly when determining runoff response to rainfall input. The main objective of this study is to apply the potential of spaceborne SAR data for soil moisture retrieval in order to improve the spatial input parameters required for hydrological modelling. For the spatial database creation, high resolution 2 m aerial laser scanning Digital Terrain Model (DTM), soil map, and landuse map were used. Rainfall records were transformed into a runoff through hydrological parameterisation of the watershed and the river network using HEC-HMS software for rainfall runoff simulation. The Soil Conservation Services Curve Number (SCS-CN) and Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) loss methods were selected to calculate the infiltration losses. In microwave remote sensing, the study of how the microwave interacts with the earth terrain has always been interesting in interpreting the satellite SAR images. In this research soil moisture was derived from two different types of Spaceborne SAR data; TerraSAR-X and ALOS PALSAR (L band). The developed integrated hydrological model was applied to the test site of the Gottleuba Catchment area which covers approximately 400 sqkm, located south of Pirna (Saxony, Germany). To validate the model historical precipitation data of the past ten years were performed. The validated model was further optimized using the extracted soil moisture from SAR data. The simulation results showed a reasonable match between the simulated and the observed hydrographs. Quantitatively the study concluded that based on SAR data, the model could be used as an expeditious tool of soil moisture mapping which required for hydrological modelling.

Hydrological modelling is a powerful tool for hydrologists and engineers involved in the planning and development of integrated approach for the management of water resources. With the recent advent of computational power and the growing availability of spatial data, RS and GIS technologies can augment to a great extent the conventional methods used in rainfall runoff studies; it is possible to accurately describe watershed characteristics in particularly when determining runoff response to rainfall input. The main objective of this study is to apply the potential of spaceborne SAR data for soil moisture retrieval in order to improve the spatial input parameters required for hydrological modelling. For the spatial database creation, high resolution 2 m aerial laser scanning Digital Terrain Model (DTM), soil map, and landuse map were used. Rainfall records were transformed into a runoff through hydrological parameterisation of the watershed and the river network using HEC-HMS software for rainfall runoff simulation. The Soil Conservation Services Curve Number (SCS-CN) and Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) loss methods were selected to calculate the infiltration losses. In microwave remote sensing, the study of how the microwave interacts with the earth terrain has always been interesting in interpreting the satellite SAR images. In this research soil moisture was derived from two different types of Spaceborne SAR data; TerraSAR-X and ALOS PALSAR (L band). The developed integrated hydrological model was applied to the test site of the Gottleuba Catchment area which covers approximately 400 sqkm, located south of Pirna (Saxony, Germany). To validate the model historical precipitation data of the past ten years were performed. The validated model was further optimized using the extracted soil moisture from SAR data. The simulation results showed a reasonable match between the simulated and the observed hydrographs. Quantitatively the study concluded that based on SAR data, the model could be used as an expeditious tool of soil moisture mapping which required for hydrological modelling.

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the capability of radio detection and ranging (radar) data collected by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture radar (PALSAR), supported by field measurements obtained through ground survey, to predict and map Above Ground Woody Biomass (AGWB) in the tropical savannas of the developing country of Belize, and to understand how the forest structure may influence the backscatter observed. Firstly, an extensive inventory of the woody vegetation of the tropical savannas of Belize was created by measuring the diameter at breast height (dbh), the total height (ht) and the location of 6547 trees in plots covering a total woodland area of 30.8 hectares, located within four protected areas (the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (11×1ha), Deep River (108×0.1ha) and Manatee Forest Reserve (1ha) and the Bladen Nature Reserve (1ha) and also from plots located in unprotected areas (7×1ha). These measurements of forest structure, when combined with information about forest management practices obtained from local organisations revealed that different forms of protection and management may lead to the development of pine woodlands with different structural characteristics in these savannas. Secondly, a case-study was conducted to establish the sensitivity of the ALOS PALSAR backscatter data to AGWB and determine the effect of sample plot size to their relationship. The findings of this case-study show that the L-band backscatter in these low density pine woodlands is a possible predictor of AGWB and confirm that the appropriate sample plot size for predicting AGWB is one hectare; while the sensitivity degrades significantly with decreasing sample plot size. Taken together, the findings described above were combined to assess the capability of ALOS PALSAR backscatter to predict AGWB in these woodlands. A semi-empirical Water Cloud Model (WCM) describing the interaction between the backscatter and vegetation was re-arranged to enable the prediction of AGWB. Non-linear regression analysis revealed that the ALOS PALSAR backscatter predicted AGWB with an R2=0.92; an external validation conducted with additional ground reference data estimated this AGWB prediction to have an RMSE ~13 t/ha. The form of the regression model linking backscatter to AGWB appears to be particularly influenced by sample plots with higher tree numbers and by plots in which the trees were more homogeneous. The presence of many similar sized individuals within some plots is postulated as one explanation for the elevated saturation level for predictions in this study (> 100 t/ha) compared to other models. The model developed here predicts complete saturation in the backscatter - AGWB relationship to occur primarily as a result of increases in the tree number density and often concurrently in basal area, two parameters which are usually strongly correlated with AGWB in these woodlands. Thirdly, the locally validated relationship between ALOS PALSAR backscatter and AGWB is used to map AGWB for the lowland pine savannas of Belize at a spatial resolution of 100m. The mapping estimates that over 90% of these pine woodlands have an AGWB below 60 t/ha, with the average woody biomass estimated at 23.5 t/ha. When these new predictions are mapped and aggregated over the extents of two protected areas (Rio Bravo and Deep River), the totals obtained agree closely (error ≤20%) with previous estimates of AGWB obtained from ground data and previous research. The combined evidence suggests that woodland protection may produce a small, positive effect upon AGWB, with the mean of the AGWB/ha predictions higher in areas that are protected and managed for biodiversity (29.55 ± 0.84 t/ha) than in other areas that are not protected (23.29 ± 0.19 t/ha). When the fine scale local AGWB mapping produced using ALOS PALSAR is compared cell-by-cell with global biomass products at coarser spatial resolutions (500m and 1000m), the AGWB differences observed range from 115-120%. When the coarser AGWB estimates are aggregated over the extents of Deep River and Rio Bravo, the AGWB totals obtained differ significantly (~280 – 300%) from AGWB estimates from ground data and previous research. Overall, these findings suggest that where sufficient ground data exists to build a reliable local relationship to radar backscatter, more detailed biomass mapping can be produced from ALOS and similar satellite sensor data at resolutions of ~100m. This more accurate and spatially detailed information about the distribution of woody biomass within tropical lowland savannas is more appropriate for monitoring local changes in forest cover and for supporting management decisions for forested areas of around ~10,000ha than estimates based upon previously available, but coarser scale, global biomass products.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Mônica Alves de Vasconcelos.pdf: 4440019 bytes, checksum: c44d2ef502b2db9e99beafff1edcc52e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-30 / CNPQ - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The regional importance of the Tarumã-Açu River basin, its location and extent, which represents about 12 percent in the city of Manaus, and its current situation of threat due to disorderly occupation problems, forest conversion to other types of use and soil cover, motivated the study of landscape structure analysis of this area. For this analysis a map of use and soil of the basin and cover, and indexes of landscape ecology were produced. Creating the map was based on digital supervised classification (maximum likelihood algorithm) of orbital images active sensor digital ALOSPALSAR of the year 2007, with global accuracy of 77.47. The elements of the landscape studied in this work were those of smearing and array, and the rates of landscape ecology used, that make the fragments-level characterization and use class-level and soil cover. The largest class of land cover found in the rain forest was 64.98 ha, representing 46,001 ha and demonstrating that the studied area had great natural vegetation cover in 2007. The second largest class of soil coverage was represented by the urban area by 18.02, totaling 12,759.53 acres, showing that already at the time (5 years by now), the basin was already in advanced process of occupation and man-made impacts. This can still be justified by the fact the bowl is partially located within the urban area of the city of Manaus. The porosity of the matrix of the basin was represented by 64,282 fragments. This high value is justified by the size of the study area bounded and the spatial resolution of the image ALOSPALSAR with 12.5 meters, which results in a zoom of the study area, highlighting areas usually omitted for images of lower spatial resolution. This high value is justified by the size of the study area bounded and the spatial resolution of the image ALOSPALSAR with 12.5 meters, which results in a zoom of the study area, highlighting areas usually omitted for images of lower spatial resolution. These fragments totaled 24,796.35 ha, total study area 47.07. Of these, 18.02% fragments formed by the urban area, followed by agriculture and secondary by forest, soil and water. The fragment had 95.94 % area class less than 1.0 ha, 3.78% has area between 1.0 and 10 hectares, and only 0.27% has area greater than 10 ha, totaling 174 large fragments. Most of the fragments of size less than 1.0 ha belong to the urban area, showing 48,467 fragments, and in the area greater than 10 ha this kind of coverage presented 59 spots. In relation to the average values and sets, the shape of fragments results were similar for all classes studied - around 2. The results were satisfactory for the studied region, since become required the use of remote sensing techniques due to the climatic characteristics and territorial extension of the Amazon / importância regional da Bacia do Rio Tarumã-Açu, sua localização e extensão, a qual representa cerca de 12% do município de Manaus, e sua atual situação de ameaça devido a problemas de ocupação desordenada, conversão de floresta em outros tipos de uso e cobertura do solo, motivaram o estudo da análise da estrutura paisagem dessa área. Para essa análise foi produzido o mapa de uso e cobertura do solo da bacia e foram utilizados índices de ecologia da paisagem. O mapa de uso e cobertura do solo foi produzido pela classificação digital supervisionada (algoritmo de máxima verossimilhança) de imagens orbitais digitais do sensor ativo ALOS/PALSAR do ano de 2007, com exatidão global de 77,47%. Os elementos da paisagem estudados neste trabalho foram os de mancha e matriz, sendo os índices de ecologia da paisagem utilizados, os que fazem a caracterização em nível de fragmentos e em nível de classes de uso e cobertura do solo. A maior classe de cobertura do solo encontrada na classificação foi a de floresta ombrófila, 64,98%, representando 46.001 hectares, demonstrando que a área de estudo para o ano de 2007 apresentava grande cobertura vegetal natural possivelmente primária. A segunda maior classe de cobertura do solo foi representada pela área urbana por 18,02%, totalizando 12.759,53 hectares, mostrando que já na época, há 5 anos, a bacia já se encontrava em avançado processo de ocupação e impactos antrópicos, isto pode ainda ser justificado pelo fato da bacia está parcialmente localizada dentro da área urbana do município de Manaus. A porosidade da matriz da bacia foi representada por 64.282 fragmentos. Este valor elevado justifica-se pelo tamanho da área de estudo delimitada e da resolução espacial da imagem ALOS/PALSAR com 12,5 metros, que resulta em um "zoom" da área de estudo, destacando áreas geralmente omitidas por imagens de menor resolução espacial. Esses fragmentos totalizaram 24.796,35 hectares, 47,07% da área total de estudo. Destes, 18,02% formados por área urbana, seguidos por agricultura e solo exposto, floresta secundária e água. Os 95,94% dos fragmentos apresentaram classe de área menor que 1,0 ha, 3,78% possuem área entre 1,0 e 10 hectares e apenas 0,27% possui área maior que 10 ha, totalizando 174 grandes fragmentos. A maioria dos fragmentos com área menor que 1,0 ha pertencem à classe área urbana, apresentando 48.467 fragmentos, e na classe de área maior que 10 ha esta classe de cobertura apresentou 59 manchas. Em relação aos valores de média, mediana e moda da forma dos fragmentos os resultados foram semelhantes para todas as classes estudadas, em torno de 2. Os resultados mostraram-se satisfatórios para o referido estudo na região, visto que tornam-se necessários a utilização de técnicas de sensoriamento remoto devido as características climáticas e extensão territorial da Amazônia.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur la détection et la mesure des déformations tectoniques inter-sismiques de surface sur l'île de Taiwan, dont la formation résulte de la collision active entre les plaques tectoniques Eurasienne et Philippines (avec une vitesse de convergence de 8,2 cm/an). Nous utilisons pour cela la méthode interférométrique des réflecteurs persistants (aussi appelée PS). Cette méthode est basée sur l'analyse d'une série d'images radar acquises à différentes dates sur une même zone. Son intérêt majeur est de pouvoir effectuer un suivi spatio-temporel des faibles déformations avec une densité de points de mesure nettement plus élevée que celle offerte par les réseaux de mesure géodésiques. Nous utilisons par ailleurs des données PALSAR du satellite japonais ALOS opérant en bande L (avec une longueur d'onde de 23,6 cm), qui permettent d'améliorer grandement les résultats interférométriques sur les zones à fort couvert végétal. Nous montrons que l'utilisation combinée de la technique PS et des données ALOS fournit de nouveaux éléments notoires dans le cadre du suivi des déformations inter-sismiques de Taiwan. Nous calculons sur différentes zones de l'île des cartes des déplacements moyens de la surface terrestre, ainsi que les séries temporelles de das déplacements associées (avec une mesure de déplacement pour chaque date d'acquisition radar). Trois zones majeures de la collision actuelle ont été sélectionnées et les résultats obtenus sont sans précédent. La Vallée Longitudinale, située à l'Est de l'île entre la Chaîne Centrale et la Chaîne Côtière, absorbe envionr 1/3 de la convergence totale; le raccourcissement horizontal mesuré au travers de la vallée est d'environ 3 cm/an. La déformation se localise principalement sur la faille de la Vallée Longitudinale, pour l'essentielle de manière asismique. La carte des déplacements moyens calculée sur la période 2007-2010 nous permet de localiser cette faille inverse avec une grande précision (entre 50 et 100 mètres), améliorant ainsi grandement les précédentes cartes. Nous estimons également le taux de glissement inter-sismique de la faille (variant entre 1 et 3,2 cm/an), et analysons ses variations spatio-temporelles. Ces résultats sont en accord avec les données de mesure par GPS continu. La péninsule de Hengchun, au Sud de l'île, permet d'étudier les déformations les plus récentes observables à Taiwan. Cette péninsule est située au sommet du prisme d'accrétion actuel, et la structure tectonique majeure est la faille inverse de Hengchun. Sur cette zone, la trace au sol de la faille est mise en évidence et cartographiée. Le taux de glissement inter-sismique y est estimé à environ 1 cm/an. Enfin, nous menons une étude des déformations lentes affectant la Plaine Côtière, au Sud-Ouest de l'île. Plusieurs types de déformation y sont observés entre 1995 et 2010: le soulèvement de l'anticlinal de Tainan, la subsidence de la plaine de Pingtung, l'activité de la faille de Fengshan et la subsidence autour de la rivière Choshui.

Les milieux humides remplissent plusieurs fonctions écologiques d’importance et contribuent à la biodiversité de la faune et de la flore. Même s’il existe une reconnaissance croissante sur l’importante de protéger ces milieux, il n’en demeure pas moins que leur intégrité est encore menacée par la pression des activités humaines. L’inventaire et le suivi systématique des milieux humides constituent une nécessité et la télédétection est le seul moyen réaliste d’atteindre ce but. L’objectif de cette thèse consiste à contribuer et à améliorer la caractérisation des milieux humides en utilisant des données satellites acquises par des radars polarimétriques en bande L (ALOS-PALSAR) et C (RADARSAT-2). Cette thèse se fonde sur deux hypothèses (chap. 1). La première hypothèse stipule que les classes de physionomies végétales, basées sur la structure des végétaux, sont plus appropriées que les classes d’espèces végétales car mieux adaptées au contenu informationnel des images radar polarimétriques. La seconde hypothèse stipule que les algorithmes de décompositions polarimétriques permettent une extraction optimale de l’information polarimétrique comparativement à une approche multipolarisée basée sur les canaux de polarisation HH, HV et VV (chap. 3). En particulier, l’apport de la décomposition incohérente de Touzi pour l’inventaire et le suivi de milieux humides est examiné en détail. Cette décomposition permet de caractériser le type de diffusion, la phase, l’orientation, la symétrie, le degré de polarisation et la puissance rétrodiffusée d’une cible à l’aide d’une série de paramètres extraits d’une analyse des vecteurs et des valeurs propres de la matrice de cohérence. La région du lac Saint-Pierre a été sélectionnée comme site d’étude étant donné la grande diversité de ses milieux humides qui y couvrent plus de 20 000 ha. L’un des défis posés par cette thèse consiste au fait qu’il n’existe pas de système standard énumérant l’ensemble possible des classes physionomiques ni d’indications précises quant à leurs caractéristiques et dimensions. Une grande attention a donc été portée à la création de ces classes par recoupement de sources de données diverses et plus de 50 espèces végétales ont été regroupées en 9 classes physionomiques (chap. 7, 8 et 9). Plusieurs analyses sont proposées pour valider les hypothèses de cette thèse (chap. 9). Des analyses de sensibilité par diffusiogramme sont utilisées pour étudier les caractéristiques et la dispersion des physionomies végétales dans différents espaces constitués de paramètres polarimétriques ou canaux de polarisation (chap. 10 et 12). Des séries temporelles d’images RADARSAT-2 sont utilisées pour approfondir la compréhension de l’évolution saisonnière des physionomies végétales (chap. 12). L’algorithme de la divergence transformée est utilisé pour quantifier la séparabilité entre les classes physionomiques et pour identifier le ou les paramètres ayant le plus contribué(s) à leur séparabilité (chap. 11 et 13). Des classifications sont aussi proposées et les résultats comparés à une carte existante des milieux humide du lac Saint-Pierre (14). Finalement, une analyse du potentiel des paramètres polarimétrique en bande C et L est proposé pour le suivi de l’hydrologie des tourbières (chap. 15 et 16). Les analyses de sensibilité montrent que les paramètres de la 1re composante, relatifs à la portion dominante (polarisée) du signal, sont suffisants pour une caractérisation générale des physionomies végétales. Les paramètres des 2e et 3e composantes sont cependant nécessaires pour obtenir de meilleures séparabilités entre les classes (chap. 11 et 13) et une meilleure discrimination entre milieux humides et milieux secs (chap. 14). Cette thèse montre qu’il est préférable de considérer individuellement les paramètres des 1re, 2e et 3e composantes plutôt que leur somme pondérée par leurs valeurs propres respectives (chap. 10 et 12). Cette thèse examine également la complémentarité entre les paramètres de structure et ceux relatifs à la puissance rétrodiffusée, souvent ignorée et normalisée par la plupart des décompositions polarimétriques. La dimension temporelle (saisonnière) est essentielle pour la caractérisation et la classification des physionomies végétales (chap. 12, 13 et 14). Des images acquises au printemps (avril et mai) sont nécessaires pour discriminer les milieux secs des milieux humides alors que des images acquises en été (juillet et août) sont nécessaires pour raffiner la classification des physionomies végétales. Un arbre hiérarchique de classification développé dans cette thèse constitue une synthèse des connaissances acquises (chap. 14). À l’aide d’un nombre relativement réduit de paramètres polarimétriques et de règles de décisions simples, il est possible d’identifier, entre autres, trois classes de bas marais et de discriminer avec succès les hauts marais herbacés des autres classes physionomiques sans avoir recours à des sources de données auxiliaires. Les résultats obtenus sont comparables à ceux provenant d’une classification supervisée utilisant deux images Landsat-5 avec une exactitude globale de 77.3% et 79.0% respectivement. Diverses classifications utilisant la machine à vecteurs de support (SVM) permettent de reproduire les résultats obtenus avec l’arbre hiérarchique de classification. L’exploitation d’une plus forte dimensionalitée par le SVM, avec une précision globale maximale de 79.1%, ne permet cependant pas d’obtenir des résultats significativement meilleurs. Finalement, la phase de la décomposition de Touzi apparaît être le seul paramètre (en bande L) sensible aux variations du niveau d’eau sous la surface des tourbières ouvertes (chap. 16). Ce paramètre offre donc un grand potentiel pour le suivi de l’hydrologie des tourbières comparativement à la différence de phase entre les canaux HH et VV. Cette thèse démontre que les paramètres de la décomposition de Touzi permettent une meilleure caractérisation, de meilleures séparabilités et de meilleures classifications des physionomies végétales des milieux humides que les canaux de polarisation HH, HV et VV. Le regroupement des espèces végétales en classes physionomiques est un concept valable. Mais certaines espèces végétales partageant une physionomie similaire, mais occupant un milieu différent (haut vs bas marais), ont cependant présenté des différences significatives quant aux propriétés de leur rétrodiffusion. / Wetlands fill many important ecological functions and contribute to the biodiversity of fauna and flora. Although there is a growing recognition of the importance to protect these areas, it remains that their integrity is still threatened by the pressure of human activities. The inventory and the systematic monitoring of wetlands are a necessity and remote sensing is the only realistic way to achieve this goal. The primary objective of this thesis is to contribute and improve the wetland characterization using satellite polarimetric data acquired in L (ALOS-PALSAR) and C (RADARSAT-2) band. This thesis is based on two hypotheses (Ch. 1). The first hypothesis stipulate that classes of plant physiognomies, based on plant structure, are more appropriate than classes of plant species because they are best adapted to the information content of polarimetric radar data. The second hypothesis states that polarimetric decomposition algorithms allow an optimal extraction of polarimetric information compared to a multi-polarized approach based on the HH, HV and VV channels (Ch. 3). In particular, the contribution of the incoherent Touzi decomposition for the inventory and monitoring of wetlands is examined in detail. This decomposition allows the characterization of the scattering type, its phase, orientation, symmetry, degree of polarization and the backscattered power of a target with a series of parameters extracted from an analysis of the coherency matrix eigenvectors and eigenvalues. The lake Saint-Pierre region was chosen as the study site because of the great diversity of its wetlands that are covering more than 20 000 ha. One of the challenges posed by this thesis is that there is neither a standard system enumerating all the possible physiognomic classes nor an accurate description of their characteristics and dimensions. Special attention was given to the creation of these classes by combining several data sources and more than 50 plant species were grouped into nine physiognomic classes (Ch. 7, 8 and 9). Several analyzes are proposed to validate the hypotheses of this thesis (Ch. 9). Sensitivity analysis using scatter plots are performs to study the characteristics and dispersion of plant physiognomic classes in various features space consisting of polarimetric parameters or polarization channels (Ch. 10 and 12). Time series of made of RADARSAT-2 images are used to deepen the understanding of the seasonal evolution of plant physiognomies (Ch. 12). The transformed divergence algorithm is used to quantify the separability between physiognomic classes and to identify the parameters (s) that contribute the most to their separability (Ch. 11 and 13). Classifications are also proposed and the results compared to an existing map of the lake Saint-Pierre wetlands (Ch. 14). Finally, an analysis of the potential of polarimetric parameters in C and L-band is proposed for the monitoring of peatlands hydrology (Ch. 15 and 16). Sensitivity analyses show that the parameters of the 1st component, relative to the dominant (polarized) part of the signal, are sufficient for a general characterization of plant physiognomies. The parameters of the second and third components are, however, needed for better class separability (Ch. 11 and 13) and a better discrimination between wetlands and uplands (Ch. 14). This thesis shows that it is preferable to consider individually the parameters of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd components rather than their weighted sum by their respective eigenvalues (Ch. 10 and 12). This thesis also examines the complementarity between the structural parameters and those related to the backscattered power, often ignored and normalized by most polarimetric decomposition. The temporal (seasonal) dimension is essential for the characterization and classification of plant physiognomies (Ch. 12, 13 and 14). Images acquired in spring (April and May) are needed to discriminate between upland and wetlands while images acquired in summer (July and August) are needed to refine the classifications of plant physiognomies. A hierarchical classification tree developed in this thesis represents a synthesis of the acquired knowledge (Chapter 14). Using a relatively small number of polarimetric parameters and simple decision rules, it is possible to identify, among other, three low marshes classes and to discriminate with success herbaceous high marshes from other physiognomic classes without using ancillary data source. The results obtained are comparable to those from a supervised classification using two Landsat-5 images with an overall accuracy of 77.3% and 79.0% respectively. Various classifications using the support vector machine (SVM) can reproduce the results obtained with the hierarchical classification tree. But the possible exploitation by the SVM of a higher dimensionality, with a maximum overall accuracy of 79.1%, does not allow however to achieve significantly better results. Finally, the phase of the Touzi decomposition appears to be the only parameter (in L-band) sensitive to changes in water level beneath the peat surface (Ch. 16). Therefore, this parameter offer a great potential for peatlands hydrology monitoring compared to the HH-VV phase difference. This thesis demonstrates that the Touzi decomposition parameters allow a better characterization, better separability and better classifications of wetlands plant physiognomic classes than HH, HV and VV polarization channels. The grouping of plant species into physiognomic classes is a valid concept. However, some plant species sharing a similar physiognomy, but occupying a different environment (high vs. low marshes), have presented significant differences in their scattering properties.

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