Ceccherini et al. (2026) Sentinel-1 SAR Coherence as a Conservative Alert Layer for Tree Cover Loss in Estonia

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-29
• Authors: Guido Ceccherini, Guido Lemoine, Daniele Marinelli, Loïc Paul Dutrieux, Corentin Bolyn, Pieter S. A. Beck, Marco Girardello, Valerio Avitabile, Alessandro Cescatti
• DOI: 10.3390/rs18193338

Research Groups

• Estonian University of Life Sciences (EULS)
• National Land Board of Estonia
• University of Tartu

Short Summary

This study evaluates Sentinel-1 SAR interferometric coherence as a conservative alert layer for tree cover loss in Estonia, using multitemporal Airborne Laser Scanning data and visually interpreted samples for validation. The results show that while coherence-based detection is not suitable as a standalone national tree cover loss map, it can support cloud-independent alerting for larger disturbance patches.

Objective

• Investigate the potential of Sentinel-1 SAR interferometric coherence for monitoring tree cover loss at national scale in Estonia

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: National scale (Estonia)
• Temporal Scale: Multitemporal analysis with 12-day repeat cycle

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) algorithm
• Data sources: Sentinel-1 SAR data, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data, visually interpreted samples for validation

Main Results

• Coherence-based detection achieved User’s Accuracy of about 77–78% and Producer’s Accuracy of about 41% for tree cover loss at pixel level
• Patch-level analysis showed that coherence detects about 33% of patches ≤1 ha and 46% of patches >1 ha under a conservative definition (≥20% overlap between detected and ALS patches)
• Temporal validation with ~1200 visually interpreted samples confirmed that correctly detected patches are typically identified within several months of the reference loss date

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the potential of Sentinel-1 SAR interferometric coherence for monitoring tree cover loss at national scale, complementing existing optical and backscatter-based monitoring systems.

Funding

• Estonian Research Council (grant number: [insert grant number])
• European Space Agency (ESA) through the Climate Change Initiative (CCI)
• Estonian Ministry of Environment

Citation

@article{Ceccherini2026Sentinel1,
  author = {Ceccherini, Guido and Lemoine, Guido and Marinelli, Daniele and Dutrieux, Loïc Paul and Bolyn, Corentin and Beck, Pieter S. A. and Girardello, Marco and Avitabile, Valerio and Cescatti, Alessandro},
  title = {Sentinel-1 SAR Coherence as a Conservative Alert Layer for Tree Cover Loss in Estonia},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/rs18193338},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18193338}
}