Evaluation of JERS-1 SAR images from a coastal wind retrieval point of view

Wind retrieval from Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) using an L-band model function in coastal regions is evaluated. It is known that JERS-1 SAR has excessive ambiguities. This paper also gives a quantitative evaluation of excessive ambiguities in coastal scenes of JERS-1 SAR. First, focusing on the cases where wind blows from the shore in Sagami Bay, we investigate phenomena of wind speed increase with offshore distance using European Remote sensing Satellite-1 (ERS-1) SAR-derived wind speeds. The relation between wind speed and offshore distance is well formulated, which indicates the transition of the atmospheric boundary layer from land to sea surface. Wind speeds derived from JERS-1 SAR should be overestimated due to the excessive ambiguity. Then, for observation time of each JERS-1 SAR capturing the cases that wind blows from the shore in Sagami Bay, the expected wind speed growth profile is derived from the wind speed growth formula and an in situ wind observation of Hiratsuka Experiment Station. We convert the wind-speed profile into the sigma-0 profile by an L-band model function. Finally, the profiles of JERS-1 SAR-observed and the estimated sigma-0 are compared, and the excessive ambiguity is estimated as the difference between them. As a result, the dynamic range of first azimuth ambiguity is as large as that of the wind-relating signal from the ocean surface. Moreover, higher order azimuth ambiguities and range ambiguity also may have a significant impact on near-shore wind retrieval.     

A new wind vector algorithm for C-band SAR

Ocean wind speed and wind direction are estimated simultaneously using the normalized radar cross sections /spl sigma//sup 0/ corresponding to two neighboring (25-km) blocks, within a given synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image, having slightly different incidence angles. This method is motivated by the methodology used for scatterometer data. The wind direction ambiguity is removed by using the direction closest to that given by a buoy or some other source of information. We demonstrate this method with 11 ENVISAT Advanced SAR sensor images of the Gulf of Mexico and coastal waters of the North Atlantic. Estimated wind vectors are compared with wind measurements from buoys and scatterometer data. We show that this method can surpass other methods in some cases, even those with insufficient visible wind-induced streaks in the SAR images, to extract wind vectors.     

Interlook cross-correlation function of speckle in SAR images of sea surface processed with partially overlapped subapertures

In the present paper, a general integral expression is derived and discussed for the cross-correlation function (CCF) of speckle patterns in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images processed by using partially overlapped subapertures of arbitrary Doppler center frequencies (or equivalent azimuth times). It is shown that, under the white noise approximation for the backscattered field, the CCF of the interlook speckle intensity patterns is given by the squared modulus of the autocorrelation function of the amplitude weighting function of subapertures where the time lag is the center time difference. It is also shown that the CCF of the interlook speckle patterns is independent of the surface coherence time of sea surface. The integral expression for the intensity CCF is then evaluated for a rectangular weighting function, and comparison is made with Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) L-band and RADARSAT-1 C-band SAR images of sea surface to test the theory. The CCFs computed from the JERS-1 SAR data show excellent agreement with the theory, and good agreement is obtained with the RADARSAT-1 data.     

Aircraft measurements of the microwave scattering signature of the ocean

Microwave scattering signatures of the ocean have been measured over a range of surface wind speeds from 3 m/s to 23.6 m/s using the AAFE RADSCAT scatterometer in an aircraft. Normalized scattering coefficients are presented for vertical and horizontal polarizations as a function of incidence angle (nadir to55deg) and radar azimuth angle (0degto360deg) relative to surface wind direction. For a given radar polarization, incidence angle, and azimuth angle relative to the wind direction, these scattering data exhibit a power law dependence on surface wind speed. The relation of the scattering coefficient to azimuth angle obtained during aircraft circles (antenna conical scans) is anisotropic and suggests that microwave scatterometers can be used to infer both wind speed and direction. These results have been used for the design of the Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) to be flown in 1978 on this first NASA oceanographic satellite.     

A systematic comparison of QuikSCAT and SAR ocean surface wind speeds

We performed a systematic comparison of wind speed measurements from the SeaWinds QuikSCAT scatterometer and wind speeds computed from RADARSAT-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) normalized radar cross section measurements. These comparisons were made over in the Gulf of Alaska and extended over a two-year period, 2000 and 2001. The SAR wind speed estimates require a wind direction to initialize the retrieval. Here, we first used wind directions from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) model. For these retrievals, the standard deviation between the resulting SAR and QuikSCAT wind speed measurements was 1.78 m/s. When we used the QuikSCAT-measured wind directions to initialize the inversion, comparisons improve to a standard deviation of 1.36 m/s. We used these SAR-scatterometer comparisons to generate a new C-band horizontal polarization model function. With this new model function, the wind speed inversion improves to a standard deviation of 1.24 m/s with no mean bias. These results strongly suggest that SAR and QuikSCAT measurements can be combined to make better high-resolution wind measurements than either instrument could alone in coastal areas.     

Non-Gaussian signal statistics in ocean SAR imagery

The authors have studied the significance of non-Gaussian signal statistics in some synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the ocean surface. The study consisted of calculating the amplitude histogram of the returned echoes from the images and comparing these with the Rayleigh- and Kν-distributions, corresponding to the Gaussian and non-Gaussian statistics, respectively. The images used were some C-band SAR data from the Canadian airborne SAR collected during the NORCSEX'88 campaign and some ERS-1 data collected during the NORCSEX'91 campaign. The analysis of the NORCSEX'88 data included studies of the dependency of the signal statistics on incidence angle and meteorological and imaging conditions. It was found, specifically at small incidence angles, that there was a significant deviation from Gaussian statistics. It was also found that when the wind was blowing against the waves, the deviation from Gaussian statistics was more pronounced than when the wind was blowing in the same direction as the waves were propagating. The study also showed a correlation between the signal statistics and the width of the SAR image spectra. At low incidence angles, this agrees with the interpretation that non-Gaussian statistics may be related to strong widebanded scattering events. However, since non-Gaussian statistics also were observed at incidence angles as high as 50°, it is evident that the modulation of the scattering cross section by the long waves is also an important factor. In addition, the analysis of the ERS-1 data showed that to account for the width of the SAR image spectra, an azimuth smearing term, due to short scene coherence time, had to be included. This was in the present work done by modeling the short-coherence-time-smearing as a Gaussian low-pass filter. By this procedure, the authors were able to obtain realistic estimates for the average scene coherence time of the SAR scenes     

一种新的海洋风场矢量估计算法

基于合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像的海面风场估计已经得到广泛认可。多数风速反演算法是以估计的风向、校正的δvv为先验条件,应用海风模型计算而得的。在相同风向的情况下,应用不同的海风模型会得到不同的风速反演值,因此选择合适的模型是风场估计的关键。同时,风向数据的精确度也很重要,即使不大的误差也会给风速的反演结果带来明显偏差。为解决上述问题这里提出一种不需要预先已知风向数据的风场估计算法。该算法将基于海洋SAR图像中风浪的条纹信息,以及风浪条纹生成的自相关函数的周期性估计风速数据,同时由风浪条纹的最短周期方向估计风向数据,从而估计出完整的风场矢量。仿真结果显示,该算法对风速和风向数据有较高的估计精度。     

一种用于海洋要素反演的机载SAR多普勒中心偏移计算方法

多普勒中心偏移是合成孔径雷达(SAR)反演海面风场、海表流场的重要参数。该文针对机载正侧视提出一种多普勒中心偏移计算方法,分别利用载机运动状态数据和海洋探测回波数据计算多普勒中心频率,再作差求解多普勒中心偏移,并在多普勒谱分析中加入小波分析去除噪声的影响来提高计算精度。以CDOP经验模型计算结果作为比对真值,机载SAR飞行探测试验结果表明,9组探测数据多普勒中心偏移计算误差的绝对值均小于2 Hz,均方根误差为1.4 Hz,满足海洋环境要素反演的精度要求。实验表明高精度的平台运动状态数据和探测回波数据是多普勒中心偏移海洋应用的关键。      

ERS-1 SAR images of atmospheric gravity waves

ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of atmospheric gravity waves over the ocean are discussed. Several case studies are presented in detail. It is shown that the well-organized long wavelength (1 to 10 km) wave phenomena which often are seen in SAR images over the ocean may be atmospheric gravity waves. The waves appear in the SAR images because they modulate the surface wind speed which in turn modulates the surface roughness and the radar cross section. The wavelength may be measured directly from the SAR image, and the mean wind speed and wind speed modulation near the ocean surface may be estimated from the observed radar cross section modulation using a wind retrieval model. The atmospheric gravity waves usually were generated by the approach or passing of a meteorological front. Atmospheric soundings and a two-layer model for the lower troposphere indicate that, in general, the observed atmospheric wave phenomena could have been supported by accompanying temperature inversion layers and wind shears     

Validating a scatterometer wind algorithm for ERS-1 SAR

The ocean surface wind field is observed from space operationally using scatterometry. The European Space Agency's (ESAs) ERS-1 satellite scatterometer routinely produces a wind product that is assimilated into forecast models. Scatterometry cannot give accurate wind estimates close to land, however, because the field of view of a spaceborne scatterometer is on the order of 50 km. Side lobe contamination, due to the large contrast in backscatter between land and water, compounds the problem. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can provide wind speed and direction estimates on a finer scale, so that high-resolution wind fields can be constructed near shore. An algorithm has been developed that uses the spectral expression of wind in SAR imagery to estimate wind direction and calibrated backscatter to estimate wind strength. Three versions, based on C-band scatterometer algorithms, are evaluated for accuracy in potential operational use. Algorithm estimates are compared with wind measurements from buoys in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Strait, and off the Pacific Northwest coast by using a data set of 61 near-coincident buoy and ERS-1 SAR observations. Representative figures for the accuracy of the algorithm are ±2 m/s for wind speed and ±37° for wind direction at a 25-km spatial resolution     

单幅SAR遥感影像定位的几何分析

在数字高程模型(DEM)支持下的单幅影像迭代定位方法(IPM)是利用单幅遥感影像进行目标定位或修测地图的主要方法.一直以来,SAR影像IPM的几何意义都不甚明了.依据SAR影像距离投影的原理,对SAR影像IPM的计算过程进行了几何分析,提出以地面倾角和起始高程点入射角作为已知量,推导了其近似的收敛条件以及收敛速度计算公式,并分析得到地面倾角和起始高程值是影响SAR影像IPM收敛性和收敛速度的主要因素.最后,分别利用模拟数据和真实数据对几何分析的结论进行了实验验证.实验结果表明,理论分析结论正确合理,有助于深入分析SAR影像上像点与地面点的几何关系.     

基于改进Wedgelet变换的SAR图像边缘检测

针对SAR图像边缘检测中,传统算法很难同时兼顾噪声抑制和对边缘完整准确定位的缺点,利用多尺度Wedgelet变换能够有效检测线目标的特点,提出了一种新的Wedgelet变换的代价函数,增强了其抑噪能力,同时选择了适当的分解尺度,在没有降低逼近图像质量的情况下提高了变换速度.基于此变换,对SAR图像进行自适应的边缘检测.实验结果表明该方法有效克服了斑点噪声的影响,对SAR图像的边缘检测是可行、有效的.     

Wind vector retrieval using ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar imagery

An automated algorithm intended for operational use is developed and tested for estimating wind speed and direction using ERS-1 SAR imagery. The wind direction comes from the orientation of low frequency, linear signatures in the SAR imagery that the authors believe are manifestations of roll vortices within the planetary boundary layer. The wind direction thus has inherently a 180° ambiguity since only a single SAR image is used. Wind speed is estimated by using a new algorithm that utilizes both the estimated wind direction and σ ₀ values to invert radar cross section models. The authors show that: 1) on average the direction of the roll vortices signatures is approximately 11° to the right of the surface wind direction and can be used to estimate the surface wind direction to within ±19° and 2) utilizing these estimated wind directions from the SAR imagery subsequently improves wind speed estimation, generating errors of approximately ±1.2 m/s, for ERS-1 SAR data collected during the Norwegian Continental Shelf Experiment in 1991     

Design of a monopulse SAR system for the determination of elevationangles

Terrain height variations in mountainous areas cause problems in the radiometric correction of SAR images. The authors propose a novel SAR system which exploits the monopulse principle to determine the elevation angle and thus the height at the different parts of the image. From the ratios of images radiometrically modulated by the difference and sum antenna pattern in cross-track direction, the authors can calculate the appropriate elevation angle at any point in the image. In this paper, they present design considerations for an array antenna for DLR's airborne X-band SAR system and give estimates of the error due to system noise and azimuth ambiguities as well as the expected performance and precision in topographic mapping     

A continental-scale mosaic of the Amazon basin using JERS-1 SAR

A methodology, example and accuracy assessment are given for a continental-scale mosaic of the Amazon River basin at 100 m resolution using the JERS-1 satellite. This unprecedented resource of L-band SAR data collected by JERS-1 during the low-flood season of the river amounts to a collection of 57 orbits of the satellite and a total of some 1500 1 k/spl times/1 kB images. Interscene overlap both in the along-track and cross-track directions allows common reference points to be used to correct individual scene geolocation inaccuracies that have been derived from the satellite ephemeris. The set of common reference points is assembled into a matrix formulation that is used to solve for individual scene geometric offsets. By correcting for these offsets, each scene is placed within a global coordinate system, which can then be used as the basis for creating a final, visually seamless mosaic. The methodology employed in this approach allows for a mathematical foundation to be applied to the mosaicking process as well as providing a unique, traceable solution for correctly geolocating satellite imagery.     

Sea ice monitoring by L-band SAR: an assessment based on literature and comparisons of JERS-1 and ERS-1 imagery

Spaceborne single-polarization C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is widely used to gather information about the state of the sea ice cover in the polar regions. C-band is regarded as a reasonable choice for all-season monitoring capabilities. For specific mapping tasks, however, other frequency bands can be more suitable. In the first part of this paper, the summary of a literature study dealing with the utilization of L-band SAR imagery for sea ice monitoring is presented. Investigations reveal that if deformation features such as ice ridges, rubble fields, and brash ice are to be mapped, L-band radar is superior in a number of cases. The second part of this paper addresses the comparison of JERS-1 and ERS-1 SAR images that were acquired over sea ice east of Svalbard and along the east coast of Greenland. The effects of the different frequencies, polarizations, and incidence angles of the two SAR systems are discussed. It is demonstrated that the images of both sensors complement one another in the analysis of ice conditions, resulting in a more detailed view of the sea ice cover state.     

Analysis of surface roughness and morphology of first-year sea ice melt ponds: implications for microwave scattering

Variations in wind forcing over summer first-year sea ice (FYI) melt ponds occur at hourly to weekly scales and are a significant contributor to microwave backscatter (/spl sigma//spl deg/) variability observed from spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) platforms (e.g., ENVISAT-ASAR and RADARSAT-1). This variability impairs our ability to use SAR to derive information on summer sea ice thermodynamic state and energy balance parameters such as albedo and melt pond fraction. The surface roughness contribution of FYI melt ponds in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to like-polarized, C-band /spl sigma//spl deg/ estimates is analyzed through a spectral and statistical analysis of surface wave height profiles for varying wind speeds, upwind fetch lengths, and melt pond depths. A unique derivation of melt pond surface wave height spectra is presented based on digital video of melt pond surface wave trains. Significant scale surface roughness was observed even at wind speeds of 3 m/spl middot/s/sup -1/, resulting in small perturbation model estimates of /spl sigma//spl deg/ (HH) ranging from -5 dB at 20/spl deg/ incidence to -22 dB at 50/spl deg/ incidence. Results from a multivariate linear regression analysis show that 53.5% of observed variance in /spl sigma//spl deg/ (HH or VV) can be explained by wind speed, upwind fetch from melt pond edges, and melt pond depth, with no appreciable difference in the relative contribution of explanatory variables. Modeled omnidirectional /spl sigma//spl deg/ as a function of wind speed and incidence angle for 100-m transects collected throughout the melt pond season act to elaborate the role of fetch and depth, as well as the modulating effect of hummocks, on /spl sigma//spl deg/.     

SAR image despeckling using heavy-tailed Burr distribution

Multiplicative speckle noise diminishes the radiometric resolution of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and all the coherent images. Speckle removal adds an extra value to an automated SAR image interpretation and analysis. In this paper, dual-tree complex wavelet-transform-based Bayesian method is proposed for despeckling the SAR images. In each subband, the reflectance and noise of the logarithmically transformed wavelet coefficients are modeled using heavy-tailed Burr and zero-mean Gaussian distributions. The closed-form expression for the shape parameter of Burr distribution is derived by employing the Mellin transform. The resultant complex-free quadratic maximum a posteriori solution with suitable shrinkage function yields despeckled SAR images. Extensive experiments are carried out using real SAR images as well as simulated images. The proposed method performs well in terms of equivalent number of looks with 3.5751 dB improvement in homogeneous region1 of Pipe river SAR image, edge preservation with 0.6158 improvement, peak signal to noise ratio of 51.3305 dB, and mean structural similarity index measure of 0.9397 at 0.05 noise variance for synthetically speckled image in comparison to the existing methods and takes averagely 2.3461 times less computing time. The proposed method provides a computationally efficient better speckle reduction in homogeneous regions while still preserving the edge.     

基于SAR子孔径序列图像配准的海洋动态信息获取

合成孔径雷达(SAR)在海洋遥感中发挥着重要的作用。海洋的动态信息如洋流的运动和海浪的传播等是海洋信息中的重要组成部分。但是通常的SAR海洋图像信息处理是将SAR图像作为海面的瞬时状态进行处理,无法获取海洋的动态信息。该文采用子孔径分割的方法获取海面的具有连续时间间隔的序列图像,通过改进的相位相关法对序列图像间的对应部分进行亚像素级配准,获取了海面各个部分的海浪纹理信息运动的速度大小和方向。仿真实验表明改进的配准方法具有1/10像素精度和极强的噪声鲁棒性。对序列图像间相同的舰船目标,分别采用该文提出的配准法与较成熟的"尾迹法"计算的舰船速度基本一致,证明了该文方法的有效性。     

基于Goldstein滤波器的SAR海洋图像增强方法

增强具有风浪纹理的SAR海洋图像并保持其他海洋特征可以推动其在海洋学中的应用。该文引入干涉图Goldstein滤波器,通过图像谱中风浪成分与噪声比率自适应地确定增强系数,实现高频风浪纹理增强;通过SAR成像参数及海面风速,确定图像谱中分离波数,实现低频中/大尺度海洋特征保持。原理分析和实验表明,该方法具有显著的风浪纹理增强效果,同时保持了中/大尺度海洋纹理,实现效率高且适用性较强。