{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T03:27:28Z","timestamp":1768966048051,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,22]],"date-time":"2015-07-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1437523200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Arctic and sub-Arctic environments have seen a rapid growth of shrub vegetation at the expense of the Arctic tundra in recent decades. In order to develop better tools to assess and understand this phenomenon, the sensitivity of multi-polarized SAR backscattering at C and X band to shrub density and height is studied under various conditions. RADARSAT-2 and TerraSAR-X images were acquired from November 2011 to March 2012 over the Umiujaq community in northern Quebec (56.55\u00b0N, 76.55\u00b0W) and compared to in situ measurements of shrub vegetation density and height collected during the summer of 2009. The results show that \u03c30 is sensitive to changes in shrub coverage up to 20% and is sensitive to changes in shrub height up to around 1 m. The cross-polarized backscattering (\u03c30 HV ) displays the best sensitivity to both shrub height and density, and RADARSAT-2 is more sensitive to shrub height, as TerraSAR-X tends to saturate more rapidly with increasing volume scattering from the shrub branches. These results demonstrate that SAR data could provide essential information, not only on the spatial expansion of shrub vegetation, but also on its vertical growth, especially at early stages of colonization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs70709410","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,22]],"date-time":"2015-07-22T08:45:40Z","timestamp":1437554740000},"page":"9410-9430","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":42,"title":["Potential of C and X Band SAR for Shrub Growth Monitoring in Sub-Arctic Environments"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Yannick","family":"Duguay","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), 490 de la Couronne, Quebec City, QC G1K 9A9, Canada"},{"name":"Centre d\u2019\u00e9tudes Nordiques, Laval University, Pavillon Abitibi-Price 2405, rue de la Terrasse Local 1202, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"}]},{"given":"Monique","family":"Bernier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), 490 de la Couronne, Quebec City, QC G1K 9A9, Canada"},{"name":"Centre d\u2019\u00e9tudes Nordiques, Laval University, Pavillon Abitibi-Price 2405, rue de la Terrasse Local 1202, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"}]},{"given":"Esther","family":"L\u00e9vesque","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre d\u2019\u00e9tudes Nordiques, Laval University, Pavillon Abitibi-Price 2405, rue de la Terrasse Local 1202, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"D\u00c3l\u2019partement des sciences de l\u2019environnement, Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Trois-Rivi\u00e8res, 3351, boul. des Forges, Trois-Rivi\u00e8res, QC G9A 5H7, Canada"}]},{"given":"Benoit","family":"Tremblay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre d\u2019\u00e9tudes Nordiques, Laval University, Pavillon Abitibi-Price 2405, rue de la Terrasse Local 1202, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Minist\u00e8re du D\u00e9velopppement Durable, de l\u2019Environnement et Lutte Contre les Changements Climatiques, \u00c9difice Marie-Guyart, 4e \u00e9tage 675, Boulevard Ren\u00e9-L\u00e9vesque Est, Quebec City, QC G1R 5V7, Canada"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"546","DOI":"10.1038\/35079180","article-title":"Climate change: Increasing shrub abundance in the Arctic","volume":"411","author":"Sturm","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1641\/0006-3568(2005)055[0017:WBPCHC]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Winter biological processes could help convert Arctic tundra to shrubland","volume":"55","author":"Sturm","year":"2005","journal-title":"BioScience"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"045509","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/6\/4\/045509","article-title":"Shrub expansion in tundra ecosystems: Dynamics, impacts and research priorities","volume":"6","author":"Forbes","year":"2011","journal-title":"Environ. 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