Satellite scatterometer estimation of urban built-up volume: Validation with airborne lidar data

•Evaluates utility of scatterometer data for estimation of urban built-up volume.•Dense Sampling Method-processed scatterometer data are compared to airborne lidar.•Analysis conducted for nine urban areas in the United States.•Strong, linear correlations observed between radar- and lidar-derived datasets.•Results promote three-dimensional approach to land use/land cover analyses.