Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61

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Remote Sensing of Environment

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Monitoring flood extent in the lower Amazon River floodplain using ALOS/PALSAR
ScanSAR images
Allan S. Arnesen a,⁎, Thiago S.F. Silva a, Laura L. Hess b, Evlyn M.L.M. Novo a, Conrado M. Rudorff c,
Bruce D. Chapman d, Kyle C. McDonald d, e
a
Divisão de Sensoriamento Remoto, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Caixa Postal 515, 12201-970, São José dos Campos, Brazil
b
Earth Research Institute, 6832 Ellison Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3060, USA
c
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, 2400 Bren Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131 USA
d
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
e
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, CUNY Environmental Crossroads Initiative, and CUNY CREST Institute, City College of New York, City University of New York,
160 Convent Ave. & W. 138th St., New York, NY 10031, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Amazon River floodplain is subject to large seasonal variations in water level and flood extent, due to the
Received 14 February 2012 large size and low relief of the basin, and the large amount of precipitation in the region. Synthetic Aperture
Received in revised form 10 October 2012 Radar (SAR) data can be used to map flooded area in these wetlands, given its ability to provide continuous
Accepted 27 October 2012
information without being heavily affected by cloud cover. As part of JAXA's Kyoto & Carbon Initiative, exten-
Available online 17 December 2012
sive wide-swath, multi-temporal SAR coverage of the Amazon basin has been obtained using the ScanSAR
Keywords:
mode of ALOS PALSAR. This study presents a method for monitoring flood extent variation using ALOS
Object-based image analysis ScanSAR images, tested at the Curuai Lake floodplain, in the lower Amazon River, Brazil. Twelve ScanSAR
Multi-temporal analysis scenes were acquired between 2006 and 2010, including seven during the 2007 hydrological year. Water
Incidence angle level records, field photographs, optical images (Landsat-5/TM and MODIS/Terra and Aqua) and topographic
Wetlands data were used as auxiliary information. A data mining algorithm allowed the implementation of a hierarchi-
Synthetic aperture radar cal, object-based classification algorithm, able to map land cover types and flooding status in the study area
Kyoto & Carbon Initiative for all available dates. Land cover based on the entire time series (classification levels 1 and 2) had overall
accuracies of 90% and 83%, respectively. Level 3 classifications (one map per image date) were validated
only for the lowest and highest water stages, with overall accuracies of 76% and 78%, respectively. Total
flood extent (Level 4) was mapped with 84% and 94% accuracies, for the low and high water stages, respec-
tively. Regression models were fitted between mapped flooded area and water levels at the Curuai gauge to
predict flood extent. A polynomial model had R2 = 0.95 (p b 0.05) and an overall root mean square error
(RMSE) of 241 km 2, while a logistic model had R2 = 0.98 (p b 0.05) and RMSE = 127 km2.
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Remarkable seasonal variations in the spatial and temporal distribution

Large river floodplains are very important for humanity, serving as
buffers against the effects of extreme floods and droughts, harboring
unique animal and plant species, and providing a variety of services to
riverside communities, such as transportation, fisheries and agriculture
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Mitsch and Gosselink,
2000). These areas are also important for the global carbon budget,
both as a source of greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) and as a carbon
sink (Cao et al., 1996; Melack et al., 2004; Richey et al., 2002).
The mainstem Amazon River floodplain accounts for approximately
12% of the total wetland area in the lowland Amazon basin, and is cov-
ered by a wide variety of vegetation physiognomies (herbaceous, shrub,
and tree, both terrestrial and aquatic) (Melack and Hess, 2010).
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 12 3208 6446; fax: +55 12 3208 6488.
E-mail address: allansarnesen@gmail.com (A.S. Arnesen).
of flooding over these vegetation types are caused by the large annual
variation of water levels (the “flood pulse”), and flood amplitude and
periodicity are the main drivers of productivity, biodiversity and bio-
geochemistry in the Amazon floodplain (Junk et al., 1989).
Remote sensing data from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors
can be an efficient means of monitoring flood extent in large wet-
lands, as traditional in situ techniques are limited by access, cost,
and logistics. The main advantages of SAR data are its relative inde-
pendence of atmospheric and illumination conditions, and the capa-
bility of mapping inundation under vegetated areas (Woodhouse,
2006). Given the abundance of forested wetlands in the Amazon,
mapping inundation below the canopy remains as one of the main
challenges for optical remote sensing of flooding in the region. Although
several studies have focused on the effects of spatial and temporal var-
iability on Amazon floodplain land cover (Hess et al., 2003; Martinez
and Le Toan, 2007; Silva et al., 2010), quantitative information on the

0034-4257/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.035
52 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61
seasonal variability of flooded area throughout the annual flood pulse is
still scarce for the region.
Because of the dynamic nature of the floodplain environment, re-
curring SAR imaging is required to support estimates of flooded area
during all phases of the flood pulse. As part of the Kyoto & Carbon
(K&C) Initiative of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),
extensive wide-swath, multi-temporal SAR coverage of the Amazon
basin has been obtained using the ScanSAR mode of the PALSAR/ALOS
(Advanced Land Observing Satellite) sensor, enabling a temporal analy-
sis (Rosenqvist et al., 2007).
Seasonal flooding effects on SAR backscatter have been shown to
vary according to land cover types in the Amazon floodplain, as a func-
tion of both target characteristics and seasonal variation in water levels
(Hess et al., 1995; Martinez and Le Toan, 2007; Silva et al., 2010). Fur-
thermore, the very wide swath of ScanSAR products also enhances the
effect of changes in incidence angle on backscattering properties. There-
fore, land cover types and incidence angle effects must be quantified
and accounted for before flood information can be extracted from the
images.
Pixel-based digital image classification methods have been applied to
SAR data to monitor seasonal flood dynamics in the Amazon region
(Frappart et al., 2005; Martinez and Le Toan, 2007), but object-based
image analysis (OBIA) is emerging as a particularly effective method
for complex image classification (Costa, 2004; Evans et al., 2010; Hess
et al., 2003; Silva et al., 2010). OBIA allows the inclusion of object proper-
ties other than backscatter, such as temporal patterns, texture, ancillary
data, and hierarchical or spatial contexts in the classification process,
improving classification results (Benz et al., 2004; Blaschke, 2010).
This paper, therefore, has three objectives: i) characterize the
ALOS ScanSAR backscattering signature of the main land cover types
in the eastern Amazon floodplain, under varying flooding and incidence
angle conditions; ii) develop an object-based classification algorithm
able to map flooding status of different land cover types and the overall
flood extent in the region, over multiple periods of the hydrologic cycle;
a)
b)
Fig. 1. Curuai Lake floodplain. Lower Amazon River, Pará state, Brazil. a) Hatched area represents the 409 ScanSAR/ALOS orbit; b) Curuai Lake floodplain; the white line indicates the
boundaries of the study area and white dots represent field locations visited during the rising water stage of 2011 (April). Background is SRTM digital elevation model.
and iii) quantify the relationship between water level variation and
flood extent for the Curuai Lake floodplain area.
2. Methods
2.1. Study area
Curuai Lake floodplain is a complex lake located in the Lower Amazon
River floodplain (Brazil), approximately 900 km upstream from the river
mouth (Fig. 1). The lake's hydrograph varies seasonally between 5 and
7 m (Fig. 2), and annually by up to 2 m, resulting in significant variations
in flooded area throughout the year.
Based on a six-year study period, Bonnet et al. (2008) estimated the
contributions from different water sources to the Curuai Lake floodplain
(river flooding, rainfall, runoff, and groundwater exchange). According
to their estimation, the Amazon River flood wave contributes 77% of
the annual water input, followed by runoff (10%), rainfall (9%), and
groundwater (4%). The predominance of river input is mostly explained
by the small size of the local watershed (1370 km2; Bonnet et al., 2008).
Mean annual precipitation in the region is about 1800 mm (1970
to 2007) at the nearest gauging station, with the largest amount of
rainfall observed between February and April. Maximum water levels
in the region occur between May and July, with a lag of approximately
three months from the peak of the rainy season, and the lowest water
levels are usually observed between October and November.
2.2. Remote sensing data acquisition and pre-processing
This study used L-band, HH-polarized ScanSAR mode images ac-
quired by the PALSAR sensor onboard the ALOS satellite. This imaging
mode is characterized by its wide swath width (360 km), which allows
frequent data acquisition over large regions (Rosenqvist et al., 2007). To
facilitate multi-temporal continental-scale mapping and mosaicking,
the K&C Initiative provides ScanSAR data processed into slant-range
Study area
V isited points
 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61 53

Five main land cover types were identified during this campaign:
a) “open water”, flooded areas not covered by vegetation and with differ-
ent surface roughness according to wind intensity; b) “macrophytes”,
herbaceous aquatic vegetation with varying biophysical properties, rang-
ing from short floating (approximately less than 30 cm) to emergent
graminoid plants (reaching up to 1.5 m above water); c) “flooded
forest”, representing tree and shrub stands with varying biophysical
properties (canopy height of approximately 3 to 15 m) and with stand-
ing water beneath the canopy; d) “non-flooded forest”, trees and shrubs
without standing water beneath the canopy; and e) “soil”, including
bare soil and dry or early growth herbaceous vegetation areas.

2.4. Image analysis and classification

2.4.1. Backscattering analysis

Fig. 2. Optical and SAR image acquisitions for the Curuai Lake floodplain region (Lower To quantify the effects of incidence angle variation on flood extent
Amazon River, Brazil) during the 2007 flood pulse. *Landsat/TM (orbit 228); ** MODIS mapping, the floodplain cover types observed in the field were consol-
Daily surface reflectance data; ***MODIS 8 Day surface reflectance data. The Y-axis idated into four simplified classes: “flooded forest” and “non-flooded
shows daily water stage height for 2007, as registered at the Curuai gauging station. forest” (including both open woodland canopies and mature, closed
canopy forests), “soil” (including areas with very short/sparse herba-
ceous vegetation) and “open water”. High biomass macrophytes were
not considered for the incidence angle analysis, as these plants are
strips of several thousand km, using the JAXA EORC SIGMA-SAR strip-
very heterogeneous in space and time, limiting the capacity to isolate
map processor (ALOS K&C Science Team, 2008). The slant-range strips
the effects of incidence angle.
are further processed using a protocol developed for the NASA-
Samples were taken at one-degree incidence angle intervals across
MEaSUREs Inundated Wetlands Earth System Data Record, consisting
the entire ScanSAR swath. At least one sample was acquired at each inci-
of co-registration of all dates with the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topographic
dence angle for each class, with the exception of non-flooded forest,
Mission) digital elevation model (Jarvis et al., 2008), correction for
which could not be sampled at the incidence angles 27° and 28° due to
topographic effects, removal of processing artifacts, antenna pattern
the location and width of the Tapajós River. Land cover types were iden-
correction, removal of cross-track banding, and absolute calibration
tified by examining cloud-free Landsat images acquired at dates and
(Chapman et al., 2010). The resulting product for each ScanSAR swath
water levels similar to the ScanSAR images, Google Earth™ imagery,
is an image stack of terrain-corrected, 16-bit HH-polarized amplitude
and the actual ScanSAR data (Table 1). Sample sizes were proportional
scenes for each date, together with the co-registered SRTM DEM and a
to the extent of each cover type in the area, with a minimum of 150
map of local incidence angle, in addition to the original, co-registered
pixels for flooded forest and soil, and 500 pixels for non-flooded forest
but uncorrected scenes, all at 3 arc-second pixel size (~90 m).
and open water. SRTM images were also visually inspected to ensure
From the available corrected scenes, three seasonal descriptors
samples were collected over flat areas, minimizing topographic effects.
were generated to support image segmentation and land cover char-
Average backscattering was determined for all samples, and a simple lin-
acterization, using a simple multiband statistical processing: Tempo-
ear regression model of backscattering as a function of incidence angle
ral Average Backscattering (TAB), Temporal Standard Deviation of
was fitted for each class, to identify possible statistically significant
backscattering (TSD) and Highest/Lowest water level backscattering
trends.
Ratio (HLR).
To characterize class-specific seasonal changes in backscattering
Optical images were required by the present algorithm to separate
due to flooding, soil and open water classes were further subdivided
classes with similar backscattering in L-band SAR, so TM/Landsat-5
into “rough” and “smooth” subclasses and macrophyte areas were
images and MODIS surface reflectance products were acquired at sev-
subdivided into “emergent/high biomass” and “floating/low biomass”
eral dates (Fig. 2). The first was preferred due to better spatial resolu-
subclasses, corresponding to the distinct backscattering patterns
tion (30 m), but low availability of cloud-free images required the
observed in the ScanSAR images (Table 2).
additional acquisition of MODIS data (250 m). The criteria for optical
Backscattering samples for characterizing land cover response
scene selection were minimum cloud coverage, closeness to ScanSAR
to flooding were taken similarly to those for incidence angle analysis,
acquisition dates, and similarity of water levels. The SRTM digital ele-
using Landsat-5 images and ground information as references, and the
vation model version 4.1 was also used in the classification process to
discriminate between Upland (areas that are never flooded) and
Floodplain (wetland areas) (Silva et al., 2010).
Table 1
Optical images used as reference for sample collection for incidence angle effect analysis
2.3. Field data acquisition on ALOS ScanSAR images of the Curuai Lake floodplain, Lower Amazon River, Brazil.
Water levels refer to the gauging station at Curuai.

During the rising water period of the 2011 flood pulse, a field cam- Land cover ScanSAR Water level TM/Landsat-5 Water level
paign was carried out to support land cover classification (2011-04-15 type image date (cm) images (cm)
(orbit/date)
to 2011-04-10; average water level of 950 cm). Main land cover types
were GPS-located and photographed to provide a set of ground refer- Non-flooded forest 2007-06-02 1010 228/2007-06-28 993.5
227/2007-06-21 1010
ence data for training and accuracy assessment. Since the campaign
Flooded forest 2007-06-02 1010 228/2007-06-28 993.5
was undertaken during the rising water period, the majority of the 227/2007-06-21 1010
visited sites were already flooded. A GPS integrated camera (RICOH Soil 2006-11-30 452 228/2006-10-15 458
500SEW) allowed the acquisition of more than one thousand photo- 227/2006-10-24 422
graphs containing information on geographic location and direction Open water 2006-11-30 452 228/2006-10-15 458
227/2006-10-24 422
(Fig. 1).
54 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61
Table 2
Correspondence between land cover types of the Amazon River floodplain identified
during the 2011 field campaign, classes used for incidence angle analysis, and classes
used for backscattering analysis and image classification.
Field campaign Incidence angle analysis Classification
Non-flooded forest Non-flooded forest Non-flooded forest
Flooded forest Flooded forest Flooded forest
Soil Soil Rough/wet soil
Smooth/dry Soil
Open water Open water Rough water
Smooth water
Emergent macrophytes – Emergent macrophytes
Floating macrophytes Floating macrophytes
same criterion of at least 500 pixels for minimum sample sizes.
Class-specific responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics
and boxplots. Statistical evaluations were performed using amplitude
values (digital numbers), but final results were converted to normalized
backscattering coefficients (σ 0), expressed in dB to allow comparisons
with previous literature. For PALSAR ScanSAR products, this conversion
follows Eq. (1):
 
0 2
σ ¼ 10  log10 DN −83
where DN is the radar amplitude expressed in digital number and −83
is the calibration coefficient for PALSAR standard products (Shimada et
al., 2009).
2.4.2. Image classification
A multi-level classification scheme consisting of four hierarchical
levels was developed, based on both observed field characteristics and
SAR backscattering temporal patterns (Fig. 3). Class-specific temporal
variations in backscattering were the main criteria for land cover classi-
fication, following the method proposed by Silva et al. (2010).
The hierarchical structure used in the present study identified three
classes at the first classification level (Level 1), defined by their annual
flooding pattern: Upland (non-floodable areas), Floodplain (variable
flooding) and Permanent Open Water (open water surface during the
lowest water level in 2007). Class separation at this level was obtained
through a combination of ScanSAR, Landsat-5 and SRTM data. The topo-
graphic information was used to discriminate Upland areas, while opti-
cal and SAR data were used to map Permanent Open Water areas.
Information on the local incidence angle was also important, as open
water areas located at the near and far incidence ranges required dis-
tinct classification rules. The second classification level (Level 2) divided
the Floodplain class into two main classes, assumed as spatially con-
stant throughout the year: Forest and Non-forest. At Level 3, Forest
Fig. 3. Hierarchical classification scheme used to classify land cover types and flooding status at the Curuai Lake floodplain, Lower Amazon River, Brazil.
areas were split into Flooded Forest (‘FF’) and Non-Flooded Forest
(‘NFF’), while Non-Forest areas were divided in two intermediary
groups according to radiometric similarity: ‘Bright’ (including Wet/
Rough soil — ‘WS’, Emergent macrophyte — ‘EM’ and Rough open
water — ‘ROW’), and ‘Dark’ (with Dry/Smooth soil — ‘DS’, Floating
macrophyte — ‘FM’ and Smooth open water — ‘SOW’). Discrimina-
tion of each individual class within these groups was based on opti-
cal data, given their very similar backscattering. Finally, Level 4 classes
were obtained by merging Level 3 classes according to their flooded
condition (Fig. 3). The “flooded” class was represented by open water,
macrophytes and flooded forest classes, and the “non-flooded” class
was represented by soil, non-flooded forest and upland classes.
Levels 1 and 2 described spatially constant classes that differed in
their annual flooding patterns, thus resulting in a single map for the
entire time series. The last two classification levels describe flooding
status of spatially and temporally variable classes, and are thus pro-
duced individually for each single image in the time series.
The J4.8 decision tree algorithm, implemented in the Weka data
mining software suite (Hall et al., 2009) was used to identify optimal
SAR attribute thresholds for classification. This algorithm is a version
of the well-known C4.5 decision tree algorithm, which allows the use
of continuous attributes to define tree nodes, and has the advantage
of producing the smallest trees possible (Kohavi and Quinlan, 2002).
ð1Þ
The input for the algorithm was a table with backscattering attributes
of the sampled classes, and the output was a decision tree able to clas-
sify the samples into classes based on attribute thresholds. More de-
tails of the C4.5 algorithm can be found in Quinlan (1993).
The following backscattering attributes were used as inputs to the
J4.8 algorithm: Temporal Average Backscattering (TAB); Temporal
Standard Deviation backscattering (TSD); Highest Water Level back-
scattering (HWL); Lowest Water Level backscattering (LWL); High/
Low water level backscattering Ratio (HLR); and Single Date Back-
scattering (SDB). This last attribute was important to better charac-
terize the backscattering coefficient of each class on the dates that
they were sampled. All attributes were scaled in radar amplitude, to
preserve linear relationships.
Image segmentation was performed using the multi-resolution al-
gorithm implemented in eCognition 8 (Definiens, 2008). Segmenta-
tion for the first classification level considered the following images:
TAB, TSD, Highest Water Level image (2007-06-02), Lowest Water
Level image (2006-11-30) and SRTM. For the second level, the seg-
mentation was applied solely to the Level 1 Floodplain class, based
on TAB and TSD images. The TAB image allowed the identification of
areas with high backscatter values throughout the year, such as for-
ested areas (Wang et al., 1995), and the high temporal variability of
floodable forest backscattering was captured by the TSD image. For
the third and fourth classification levels, the images used for segmen-
tation were TAB, TSD, HWL, LWL and HLR.
 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61
The SAR thresholds extracted through data mining were com-
bined with optical data thresholds determined by visual feature in-
spection in eCognition 8, producing a classification rule-set capable
of segregating the classes of interest.
Classification accuracy was assessed for all classification levels,
using different approaches. For Levels 1 and 2, a set of 200 points
(50 points per Level 2 class) was randomly generated, constrained
to the Curuai Lake area where field data was available. These samples
were visually interpreted based on field observations, high resolution
optical data (Google Earth™), and the TM/Landsat-5 image of the low
water stage.
Sample size was increased to 500 points for the third classification
level, interpreted independently for the low (2006-11-30, 452 cm)
and high (2007-07-18, 959 cm) water level images.
Level 4 validation was based on the same samples used for Level 3
classes, aggregated according to flooding status. However, given the
absence of concurrent field data to validate the actual flooding status
of forested areas (which cannot be determined by visual interpretation),
an independent inundation simulation was performed by intersecting
approximate water surfaces with a digital elevation model (DEM).
The vertical datum of stage recordings from gauging stations operated
by the Brazilian National Water Agency (Agência Nacional de Águas,
ANA) at Curuai, Parintins, Óbidos, and Santarém was referenced to the
Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008). Elevation at the reference
point (gauge zero) of each river station, determined by the difference
between GPS measurement relative to the GRS80 ellipsoid and calcula-
tion of EGM2008 geoid height, was reported by Calmant et al. (2012).
Gauge zero elevation of the station at Curuai was provided by D. Moreira
(personal communication) following the same method. Daily conditions
of floodplain water surface were then approximated by linear interpola-
tion of elevations gauged at the four stations.
Land digital topography (SRTM v. 4.1) and lake sonar survey sound-
ings were integrated into a seamless floodplain DEM. The sonar survey
was performed during the high water season of 2004 (Barbosa et al.,
2006). Elevation values were determined by subtraction of surveyed
depths from water surfaces approximated from gauge records, as de-
scribed above. SRTM vertical datum was adjusted to the EGM2008
geoid, and overlapping areas of sonar and SRTM data were used to ver-
ify biases in elevation. Considering the sonar survey to be the more ac-
curate data source, a robust regression equation was used to remove the
systematic negative bias observed below 9 m on SRTM data. The two el-
evation data sources were interpolated using the TopoGrid tool in
ArcGIS 9.3.
Flooded areas were simulated by intersecting interpolated water
surfaces with the DEM. Results obtained by this method were used
as references for assessing the quality of the radar-based inundation
a) b)
Fig. 4. Mean backscattering variation as a function of ScanSAR incidence angle for the Curuai Lake floodplain, Lower Amazon River, Brazil: a) non-flooded forest (NFF) and flooded
forest (FF) backscattering, b) soil (S) and open water (OW) backscattering, and c) FF/NFF and OW/S backscattering ratios. Dashed lines indicate the range of incidence angles within
the Curuai Lake floodplain portion of the ScanSAR swath.
55
maps, by comparing it to PALSAR maps produced for the dates of
highest (2007-07-18) and lowest (2006-11-30) water stages.
2.4.3. Relationship between flooded area and water stage height
Once maps of flooded area were produced for all available SAR dates,
statistical models were fitted to assess the possibility of predicting flood
extent from the water levels registered at the Curuai gauge. Based on a
visual inspection of the data scatterplot, two candidate models were
identified: a second-order polynomial linear model, and a logistic non-
linear model.
The models were initially fitted using only data from 2007, and then
validated by comparing model estimates with the mapped areas for the
remaining five dates in 2009 and 2010. Model accuracy was assessed
using the root mean square error (RMSE) calculated between predicted
and observed values for 2009 and 2010. Given the small sample sizes,
new models were fitted after validation, including all dates, to increase
model robustness and generality. RMSE values were also calculated for
these samples as a relative measurement of model accuracy, based on
all observed flood extent values used for model fitting. All models
were fitted using R 2.15.0, with the addition of the “nls” package
(Grothendieck, 2010; R Development Core team, 2012).
3. Results
3.1. Backscattering analysis
For the forest classes, a convergence between FF and NFF backscatter-
ing could be verified towards the near range (Fig. 4a), further evidenced
by the FF/NFF backscattering ratio, which increased from 0.46 to 0.62 be-
tween the 19° to 42° interval (Fig. 4c). FF showed a small but significant
decreasing trend along the range (βb 0, pb 0.05), but this variation was
considered negligible for the incidence angle interval corresponding to
the Curuai Lake floodplain area (29°–35°).
For soil and open water targets, backscattering responses were mark-
edly different (Fig. 4b), despite being both characterized as smooth tar-
gets. No significant trends were observed for soil areas (p>0.05), but
OW areas had a very noticeable and significant trend of decreasing back-
scattering along the ScanSAR range (pb 0.05). This difference was also
evidenced by changes in OW/S backscattering ratios along the ScanSAR
swath, varying from 0.49 to 1.44 (Fig. 4c). This variation was still largely
noticeable within the Curuai Lake floodplain range (5.95 dB), and was
consequently incorporated in the classification rules.
The main similarity in backscattering between classes was observed
for soil and open water (Table 3 and Fig. 5a and b), both classes com-
posed of flat, smooth targets that favor forward scattering and low sur-
face backscattering at L-band wavelengths (Hess et al., 2003). However,
c)
56 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61

Table 3 low water stage, the confusion observed between S and NFF had no im-
Descriptive statistics of the analyzed land cover samples collected from single-date pact on flood mapping accuracy, nor did errors between OW and M, and
ScanSAR images (dates given in Table 1) within the Curuai Lake floodplain portion of
the ScanSAR swath (incidence angles between 29° and 35°)., Lower Amazon River,
FF and M, during high water stage. The overall accuracies of the flood
Brazil. maps for low and high water stages were, respectively, 84% and 94%
(Fig. 8).
Cover Mean Median Standard Coefficient of Maximum Minimum
The higher accuracy observed for high water stages at Level 4 can
type (dB) (dB) deviation variation (%) (dB) (dB)
(dB) be mostly attributed to the larger extent of open water, which is eas-
ily identified by the algorithm.
NFF −7.5 −7.4 0.6 7.9 −6.7 −9.0
FF −4.2 −4.2 0.9 20.7 −0.9 −5.9 For both dates, the main sources of error observed were the
ROW −15.2 −15.3 0.8 5.6 −13.7 −17.2 misclassification of non-flooded areas as flooded, suggesting a possi-
SOW −21.6 −21.7 0.7 3.2 −19.0 −22.8 ble small overestimation trend of the total flooded area for both
DS −19.8 −19.9 0.7 3.5 −18.0 −21.2 water stages.
WS −14.48 −14.4 1.5 10.5 −10.9 −18.8
EM −13.4 −14.2 3.5 26.0 −9.1 −21.1
FM −20.9 −21.2 1.4 6.7 −17.5 −23.6 3.3. Seasonal variation of flood extent

while soil cover had a wider temporal variation throughout the year in
response to changes in moisture content and transitions from bare to
herbaceous vegetation cover, water surface roughness was mostly af-
fected by wind, resulting in radiometric variations of shorter duration
that averaged to similar backscattering values over time.
The results supported the creation of intermediate land cover classes
during classification. Forest cover types (flooded and non-flooded) with
backscattering values higher than −8 dB were separated. The remaining
areas were split into ‘Bright’ (−10 dB to −17.5 dB, EM, WS and ROW)
and “Dark” (−19.5 to −24 dB DS, FM and SOW) groups.
3.2. Image classification and validation
The final decision tree implemented in eCognition 8.1 (Figs. 6 and 7)
produced a Level 1 classification with high overall accuracy (91%) and
kappa index value (0.86). The highest commission and omission errors
were observed for the permanent open water and floodplain classes, re-
spectively (Table 4). At Level 2, the overall accuracy and kappa index
were 83% and 0.77, respectively, and the highest classification errors
were observed for Forest and Non-Forest classes.
Level 3 had an overall accuracy of 76% for the low water stage, with
the highest commission errors observed for the NFF and S classes, and
highest omission errors for FF and M classes. Level 3 overall accuracy
was slightly higher (78%) for the high water stage, with the largest er-
rors observed for NFF, FF and M classes.
The merging of classes into the Level 4 binary flood map increased
accuracy relative to Level 3, as a large portion of the classification errors
occurred between classes with the same flooding status (Table 5). At
Open water and soil areas were directly and inversely related to
water stage, respectively (Fig. 9a), while the largest FF area was ob-
served after a delay of approximately 2 months past the maximum
water level, during the receding water stage (September) (Fig. 9b).
Macrophyte increased in area following the water stage height, but
the larger area of this class was mapped during the rising water stage.
Flood extent followed the increases of water level height, approaching
an asymptote at about 2500 km2 (Fig. 10). The second order polynomial
model fitted using data from the 2007 hydrological year resulted in R2 =
0.95, with a prediction RMSE of 241.5 km2 for the 2009 and 2010 dates,
or about 12% of the average flooded area (Table 6). Validation also
suggested a slight overestimation trend for most validation dates
(lower than 8% of observed values), but a larger overestimation for
the rising water season of 2010, of about 75%. The logistic model had
an R2 value of 0.98, and a lower RMSE value of 127.2 km2, for the
same dates of prediction, with similar but reduced overestimation
trends.
When using all available dates, both models resulted in slightly
lower R 2 values, of 0.89 for the polynomial model and 0.97 for the logis-
tic model. RMSE calculations yielded values of 152.9 km2 and 71.2 km 2,
respectively (based on the same dates available for prediction).
4. Discussion
Three classes had a bimodal backscattering distribution on single-date
ScanSAR images: open water, soil and macrophytes. Smooth open water
backscattering was very distinct from rough open water, depending on
wind conditions, and soil areas likely showed variations in moisture con-
tent and roughness (Balenzano et al., 2011; Henderson and Lewis, 2008).

a) b)

Fig. 5. Temporal variation in ScanSAR/ALOS backscattering of a) wet/rough soil and rough open water, and b) dry/smooth soil and smooth open water for the Curuai Lake floodplain,
Lower Amazon River, Brazil. Secondary y-axis and dotted line represent the water level at the Curuai gauging station.
 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61 57

Fig. 6. Object-based classification algorithm for levels 1 and 2. Sc = scale; sh = shape; co = compactness; LWL = Low water stage backscatter (amplitude); HWL = High water
stage backscatter; TAB = Temporal average backscatter; B5/TM = Landsat-5/TM band 5 acquired at low water stage; IA = incidence angle.

Macrophytes also had significant differences in the backscattered signal,
according to species composition and stand density/biomass. Emergent
macrophytes (tall, dense and vertically oriented) favored the occurrence
of volumetric and double-bounce scattering mechanisms, while floating
macrophytes, (horizontally oriented, low biomass) favored surface scat-
tering and a lower backscattered signal. The wide variation of OW back-
scattering required the adoption of two different classification thresholds,
even for the limited incidence angle range corresponding to the Curuai
Lake floodplain. For the other classes in the Curuai Lake floodplain area,
backscattering was similar to values reported in the literature for
L-band SAR data (Costa, 2004; Hess et al., 1995; Martinez and Le Toan,
2007).
The analysis of incidence angle effects showed that soil and water
classes behave differently along the 360 km of the ScanSAR range direc-
tion. Open water backscattering increased strongly towards the near
range, due to Bragg resonance (Robinson, 2004), while bare soil sur-
faces had much smaller variations.
Temporal backscattering analysis showed that potential confusion
among land cover classes could be overcome by the analysis of seasonal
variation patterns, as shown by Silva et al. (2010). It also emphasized
the importance of identifying different land cover types according to
observed backscattering characteristics, prior to the determination of
flooding status.
The J4.8 data mining algorithm was an effective tool for discriminat-
ing the majority of land cover types, based on the seasonal variation of
backscattering. However, considerable confusion remained between
soil and open water areas due to their similarity at far range, and optical
images were essential to separate those classes and increase the accura-
cy of flood extent mapping in the Curuai Lake floodplain. Classification
errors were also apparent evident between vegetation classes at Level 3.
The simulation of flooded area based on the intersection of the DEM
with interpolated water surfaces incorporates two main sources of
uncertainty: i) estimates of absolute height errors for SRTM showed a
mean of 4.1 m (7.5 m, 90%) in vegetation-free areas in South America

Fig. 7. Object-based classification algorithm for levels 3 and 4. Sc = scale; sh = shape; co = compactness; HWL = high water stage backscatter; LWL = low water stage backscatter
(amplitude); TAB = temporal average backscatter; TSD = temporal standard deviation backscatter; SDB = single date backscatter. B5/TM = Landsat-5/TM band 5 acquired at low
water stage; IA = incidence angle; and WL = water level at Curuai gauging station.
58 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61

Table 4 Table 5
Error matrices for Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the Curuai Lake floodplain (Lower Amazon River, Error matrices for flooding status classification using ScanSAR/ALOS data of the Curuai
Brazil) cover classification using optical, DEM and field data as references. Lake floodplain (Lower Amazon River, Brazil). Flooded areas determined by the inter-
section of interpolated water surfaces with floodplain DEM were used as references.
Reference Upland Open water Floodplain Row total Omission
Reference Flooded Non-flooded Row total Omission
Level 1 classification
Upland 46 0 4 50 8% Flooding status — Nov. 2006 (low water)
Open water 0 44 4 48 8% Flooded 223 52 275 19%
Floodplain 4 6 92 102 10% Non-flooded 29 196 225 13%
Column total 50 50 100 200 Column total 252 248 500
Commission 8% 12% 8% Ov. = 91% Kappa = 0.86 Commission 12% 21% Ov. = 84%

Reference Upland Open Forest Non-forest Row Omission Flooding status — Jul. 2007 (high water)
water total Flooded 463 20 483 4%
Level 2 classification Non-flooded 10 7 17 59%
Upland 46 0 3 1 50 8% Column total 473 27 500
Open water 0 44 1 3 48 8% Commission 2% 74% Ov. = 94%
Forest 2 1 40 10 53 25%
Non-forest 2 5 6 36 49 27%
Column 50 50 50 50 200 compared to images of the rising water period of similar water stage
total may be evidence of a different hysteresis between flooding and draining
Commission 8% 12% 20% 28% Ov.= Kappa=
dynamics of the basin.
83% 0.77
Changes in land cover throughout the flood pulse followed the
Reference UP OW NFF FF S M Row Omission expected behavior for most classes, with the exception of flooded forest
total and macrophytes. Flooded forest areas reached maximum values in
Level 3 classification — Nov. 2006 (low water) early September, several weeks after the peak water level was mea-
UP 72 0 2 0 1 0 75 4% sured at the Curuai gauging station, in June. Although part of this offset
OW 0 149 0 0 17 0 166 10%
can be attributed to classification errors and error propagation, the close
NFF 2 2 46 0 18 0 68 32%
FF 0 0 11 0 6 0 17 100% agreement between flood extent estimates obtained from mapping and
S 1 18 22 2 110 4 157 30% from DEM simulation suggests that different hydrologic processes
M 0 1 2 0 13 1 17 94% might act during flooding and draining periods, such as local variation
Column 75 170 83 2 165 5 500 in water level height and relative contributions of channel drainage ver-
total
Commission 4% 12% 45% – 33% 80% Ov.= Kappa=
sus diffusive flow. These processes might differ significantly between
76% 0.67 the water gauge location, at a site with strong influence from the
main river channel, and the forested areas about 50 km from the area
Level 3 classification — Jul. 2007 (high water) where flooding state was mapped. Moreover, a reduction in SAR back-
UP 71 0 1 0 1 0 73 3%
scattering might be possible at highest water stages, where flooding
OW 0 250 0 7 0 17 274 9%
NFF 2 1 7 5 0 1 16 56% will cover a large portion of tree trunks and forest understory and
FF 1 5 14 31 0 21 72 57% shrub vegetation, lowering the volumetric and double-bounce compo-
S 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 – nents of the backscattered signal and inducing misclassification.
M 1 12 2 18 2 29 64 55%
Column 75 268 24 61 3 69 500
total
Commission 5% 7% 71% 49% – 58% Ov.= Kappa=
78% 0.65
a)

(Rodríguez et al., 2005), with SRTM subject to biases caused by structure

and height of canopies in forested areas; and ii) floodplain hydrology and
geomorphology impose non-linear variations in water surface relief.
However, dense vegetation cover of high forest trees is sparse at the
Curuai Lake floodplain, owing to both geomorphological (Mertes et al.,
1995) and anthropogenic factors (Renó et al., 2011).
The length of this floodplain reach is small compared to the Amazon
flood wavelength, making the linear interpolation of surfaces from the b)
water elevations gauged at the four stations an adequate reach-scale ap-
proximation, especially towards higher water stages when water bodies
are hydraulically connected. During drainage periods, lakes that lose con-
nectivity with the main river may remain ponded, and sustain higher
water elevations than the main lake and river. The water stages of
lakes that become isolated are then subject to local floodplain hydrology
(local runoff, direct precipitation, evaporation, and groundwater). Thus,
the lower overall accuracy of the low water flood map (84% versus 94%
for the high water flood map; Table 5) may reflect the decrease in the
quality of representation of flooded area by the adopted reference rather
than the reduced accuracy of the ALOS classification. This highlights the
Fig. 8. Flood extent mapped for the Curuai Lake floodplain (Lower Amazon River, Brazil)
importance of remote sensing in registering spatial and temporal inun- for two dates: 2006-11-30 representing the low water stage (a) and 2007-07-18
dation dynamics of floodplains. For instance, the slightly larger flooded representing the high water stage (b). The black line indicates the polygon considered
areas that were mapped for images acquired during falling water for flooded area calculations.
 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61 59

a) b)

Fig. 9. Mapped area of a) open water, macrophytes and soil, and b) flooded and non-flooded forest for the 2007 hydrological year, using object oriented classification, at the Curuai
Lake floodplain, Lower Amazon River, Brazil. Secondary y-axis indicates the water level at the Curuai gauging station.

Macrophyte area appeared to increase with water stage height,
while a previous study by Silva et al. (2010) has shown that macrophyte
cover tends to be inversely related to water levels in the Eastern Amazon,
using Radarsat-1 C-HH band data. The observed pattern can however be
explained by the fact that macrophytes are still at an early developmen-
tal stage during low and early rising water stages, with low height and
biomass, and thus tend to be confused with soil (if dry) or water (if
flooded) by L-band ScanSAR data. In fact, the largest macrophyte area
was observed during late rising water stages, when macrophytes are
close to attaining their highest biomass levels (March), while a reduction
was observed between March and June 2007, as expected.
The logistic model was able to represent flooded area for all dates,
while the polynomial model was able to efficiently estimate flooded
area for most dates of 2009 and 2010, including the larger flood extents
of 2009, with the exception of the 2010 rising water period date
(January). Both years used for validation are considered “extreme”
hydrological years, representing the highest (2009) and lowest (2010)
water levels observed in the past 50 years for the region (Lewis et al.,
2011). The overestimation of the 2010 value by the polynomial model
is explained by the non-linear relation between variation in water level
and inundation extent due to lake morphology, and undersampling of
the flooding and receding transition periods. This aspect was in fact better
captured by the logistic model fitted using all available observations,
which offered a much closer estimate of the January 2010 date (Fig. 10).
The polynomial model fitted using all dates was compared to similar
models by Bonnet et al. (2008) (simple linear regression) and Barbosa
et al. (2006) (second order polynomial regression), which also estimat-
ed flooded area as a function of water level for Curuai Lake (Fig. 11). The
present ALOS ScanSAR analysis suggests that a linear model does not
capture the dynamics of total flooded area in the Curuai Lake floodplain
during the transition periods of rising and falling water.
The model fitted by Barbosa et al. (2006) was very similar in shape
to the polynomial model fitted in the present study, differing only in
magnitude (around 500 to 700 km2), as Barbosa's model was based
on classification of Landsat images, and thus accounts only for open
water areas. Despite a small difference between floodplain boundaries
as defined by Barbosa et al. (2006) and the present study, the approxi-
mate difference in magnitude between the models was of the same
order of magnitude as the sum of macrophyte and flooded forest areas
mapped in the present study.

a) b)

Fig. 10. Polynomial and logistic models relating water level at the Curuai gauging station with total flood extent mapped for the 2007 hydrological year and for all available dates, at
the Curuai Lake floodplain (Lower Amazon River, Brazil).
60 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61

Table 6
Model equations, coefficients of determination and root mean square error values for
polynomial and logistic models fitted between flood extent (FE) and water level
(WL) for the Curuai Lake floodplain, Lower Amazon River, Brazil. Obs. = observed
water level values.
Obs. Model Model equation R2
type
2007 Polynomial FE = −0.00229 × WL2 + 5.5 × WL − 781.2 0.95
Logistic FE=1262.2+1170.2/(1+e−(WL−690.6)/54.9) 0.98a
All Polynomial FE = −0.00244 × WL2 + 5.7 × WL − 882.9 0.89
dates Logistic FE = 1272 + 1124.5/(1 + e−(WL −703.5)/40.3) 0.97a
a
Although R2 values are not readily interpretable for non-linear models, values are
given for comparison.
b
RMSE values calculated for the same observations used for model fitting.
5. Conclusions
Prior characterization of general land cover classes was an essential
step to allow the discrimination of flooding effects on ALOS ScanSAR im-
ages. Flood occurrence had varying and sometimes opposite effects on
the backscattering response of particular classes, significantly limiting
the development of global classification rules. Land cover dependency
was also observed for the effects of incidence angle variation, character-
istic of the ScanSAR mode, which had a noticeable effect on the back-
scattering response of water and soil classes, and had to be considered
during algorithm development. On the other hand, it is possible that,
given the availability of overlapping ScanSAR data from adjacent orbits,
this same specific response can be explored as a source of information
for discriminating such classes, instead of relying on optical data as in
the present study. Alternatively, discrimination could be achieved by
the addition of C-band SAR data, which is more sensitive to roughness
variations in smooth targets (Evans et al., 2010). C-band SAR imagery
is offered by the currently operational Radarsat-2 platform, and will
also be available from the upcoming Sentinel-1 mission, expected for
2013.
Once class-specific rules were developed, ALOS ScanSAR L-band
data proved to be very effective for determining flood extent for multi-
ple periods of the hydrological cycle. The application of the present
method to other years and/or locations in the floodplain could offer
unprecedented support for achieving research goals such as assessing
the impact of inter-annual variations in flood pulse intensity on local
human activities, understanding water exchanges between floodplains
and river channels, characterizing vegetation zonation patterns, and
affirming more robust estimates of carbon exchange. Moreover, satellite
mapping can reveal flooding dynamics that would not be captured by
simple models, and could be used to describe local patterns and validate
more complex hydrologic models that incorporate local effects.
Although the ALOS satellite has recently reached its end of life and
ceased operations, the present study has successfully demonstrated
RMSE
the potential of wide swath L-band SAR images for monitoring flood
extent in large river floodplains and wetlands, due to the extended
241.5
coverage and frequent and recurrent data acquisition throughout the hy-
127.2
152.9b drological year. The planned ALOS-2 satellite, expected to be launched in
71.2b 2013, will ensure the continuity of the ScanSAR observation mode with
the same characteristics as its predecessor, augmented by i) increased
temporal resolution (14 days, vs. 46 days), made possible by a right-
and-left looking antenna (JAXA, 2012; Suzuki et al., 2009), and ii) a
dual-polarization (HH +HV) ScanSAR mode (Shimada et al., 2011). The
present results also suggest that effective flood monitoring could be
achieved using the proposed SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) mis-
sion, which includes an L-band 1000 km swath sensor capable of provid-
ing images with a spatial resolution of 1–3 km, every 3 days at the
Equator (Entekhabi et al., 2010). These upcoming systems offer a very
promising prospect for SAR-based flood monitoring in large wetlands,
as they will allow the proper characterization of the rapid changes in hy-
drological conditions that can be observed during certain periods of the
annual cycle.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the Brazilian National Council for
Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the fellowship
supporting Allan Arnesen through his graduate program (130519/
2010-3), and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for the finan-
cial support during the field campaign in April 2011 (2008/07537-1)
and Dr. Silva's post-doctoral grant (2010/11269-2). Conrado Rudorff
was funded by the Ministry of Education of Brazil through a CAPES/
Fulbright Award (1705-07-5). The authors also thank Dr. Claudio
Barbosa for providing bathymetry data from his extensive sonar sur-
veys. This work has been undertaken within the framework of JAXA's
Kyoto & Carbon Initiative, with ALOS PALSAR data provided by JAXA
EORC, and supported by the NASA Making Earth Science Data Records
for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program under grant
number NNX11AQ39G. More information on the MEaSUREs project
may be found at http://wetlands.jpl.nasa.gov. Portions of this work
were carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute
of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.

Fig. 11. Regression models developed by Barbosa et al. (2006) and Bonnet et al. (2008), and polynomial and logistic models developed in the present study, relating water level at
Curuai gauging station with flood extent in the Curuai Lake floodplain (Lower Amazon River).
 A.S. Arnesen et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 130 (2013) 51–61
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