Application of Sentinel-1 satellite to identify oil palm plantations in Balikpapan Bay

Satellite remote sensing has proved to be efficient for monitoring of canopy changes. In tropical areas, optical or multispectral satellite images are very often negatively affected by cloud cover, on the other hand satellites with polarimetric radars have a great advantage given their ability to penetrate clouds, smoke and atmospheric haze. Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar constellation offers both vertically co-polarized and cross-polarized imagery in a relatively high revisit time and resolution. This work describes an approach to identify selected palm oil plantations in Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan (Borneo). It gives an overview about advantages for monitoring temporal changes in the tropic environment using radar imagery but also constraints due to ambiguity of canopy type identification. The paper shows a brief comparison with application of multispectral Copernicus Sentinel-2 data and points a roadmap towards a practical application of the technologies.