The project represents an advance in the analysis of satellite radar images for studying the forest structure and floristics, focusing especially on biomass estimation in tropical areas, which is a field of growing global importance. It is being created the first estimates of vegetation structure using topographic information integrated with SAR data acquired at different frequencies.
It is also expected that this project contributes to monitoring programs of the Amazon, e.g. PRODES (Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Project). Within PRODES deforestation is monitored by satellites since 1988 in order to retrieve the annual rates of deforestation in the region, which are used by the Brazilian government for the establishment of public policies. The main challenge of the Amazon monitoring programme is the cloud cover and complexity of floristic and forest structure. Therefore, our project can contribute to the monitoring of the Amazon program by adding information derived from RADAR data. This can result in economic and social impacts in the medium and long term, especially given the availability of RADAR Sentinel 1 (C band) with high temporal resolution and free acess. This contribution is of great importance for the initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD +) and also emphasizing the ecosystem services that these kind of forests provide. Among them we can highlight: genetic resources, biochemicals, natural medicines, pharmaceuticals, regulation of air quality, climate (global, regional and local), water, erosion , water purification, spiritual and religious value, aesthetic value , recreation and ecotourism, soil formation and minerals, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling etc. Thus our project shows that it has good potential contributing and promoting positive social and economic impacts.