Discrimination of mangrove forests and characterization of adjoining land cover classes using temporal C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar data: A case study of Sundarbans

► C-band dual polarization SAR data from Radarsat-2 was used to discriminate and characterize mangrove forests of Sundarbans. ► A decision-rule classification involving 1-date cross polarization ratio (XPR) with 3-date HH backscatter was applied. ► XPR (range 2-8) and HH backscatter (−11 to −2 dB) performed best to separate mangrove forests from other land cover types. ► Textural measures (entropy and angular second moment) produced three broad mangrove classes of homogeneity. ► These classes registered spatio-temporal dynamics that corresponded well with the phenology of mangroves.