全极化SAR数据信息提取研究

全极化SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar)测量的是每一像元的全散射矩阵,可合成包括线性极化、圆极化及椭圆极化在内的多种极化图像。因此与常规的单极化和多极化SAR相比,在雷达目标探测、识别、纹理特征的提取等方面全极化SAR具有很多优点。基于新疆和田地区的SIR-C L波段全极化雷达数据,介绍了极化合成的基本原理和数据处理流程,分析了几种典型地物全极化信号的特点,并在此基础上用监督分类法进行了全极化SAR数据的信息提取。结果表明:全极化SAR数据比单极化和多极化SAR数据具有更高的分类精度,并有效地的提取出地表信息,为利用SAR数据反演地表参数打下了基础。     

基于目标分解理论的全极化SAR图像神经网络分类方法

由于全极化合成孔径雷达(synthetic aperture radar)能够测量每一观测目标的全散射矩阵，即可合成包括线性极化、圆极化及椭圆极化在内的多种极化图像，因此与常规的单极化和多极化SAR相比，在雷达目标探测、识别，纹理特征和几何参数的提取等方面，全极化SAR均具有很多优点，但是由于地物分布的复杂性往往造成不同地物具有相似的后向散射信号特征，因而加大了地物信息提取的难度。同时由于这些极化合成图像具有较高的相关性，从而导致了图像分类精度的降低。为了提高全极化SAR图像的分类精度，基于新疆和田地区的SIR-CL波段全极化雷达数据，利用目标分解理论首先将地物回波的复杂散射过程分解为几种互不相关的单一的散射分量。由于这些单一的散射分量都对应于具有不同物理和几何特征以及分布特征的地物，从而提供了更加丰富的地表覆盖信息，这样就很大程度地改善了地物信息的分类精度；然后利用分解后单一散射分量数据结合传统的极化合成数据，可以得到更多的互不相关的数据源，再使用神经网络分类法对这些数据进行分类。分类结果表明，这种方法大幅度提高了全极化SAR数据用于实验区土地覆盖分类的精度。这种分类方法也可以广泛地用于SAR数据地表覆盖和土地利用动态监测和地表参数的提取。     

利用香农熵的双极化合成孔径雷达船只检测

针对传统恒虚警率(CFAR)船只目标检测方法存在虚警率设置困难、算法自动性差的问题,该文结合香农熵特征对于船只目标和海面表现出不同特性的原理,即船只目标的香农熵为正值,海面的香农熵为负值,提出了一种基于香农熵的船只目标检测方法。文中利用8景C波段Radarsat-2双极化SAR数据进行检验,与KCFAR、G0-CFAR及基于反射对称性的XC船只目标检测算法进行对比分析,结果表明本文提出的方法具有较好的检测性能。     

星载合成孔径雷达的现状

欧空局、日本和加拿大分别计划在1992年和1994年发射各自的星载合成孔径雷达卫星(SAR)，分别称为欧洲地球资源卫星I号(E-ERS-1)，日本地球资源卫星1号(J-ERS-I)，和雷达卫星(Radarsat)。与其它被动微波辐射计一样，SAR也是一种全天候的遥感仪器。
尽管SAR有全天候的优点，但在目前的三项计划中，SAR的工作特性还是单一的，如C波段的垂直极化方式(Cvv)，L波段的水平极化方式(Lhh)或C波段的水平极化方式(Chh)。因此，由这些微波传感器所获得的信息，固于其仪器的工作性能，应用也受到相应的限制。我们应当对目前的SAR现状有一个正确的理解。本文中主要论述了大雨对SAR、X、C、L、P波段的影响，单参数SAR资料的固有特性，及进一步极化的SAR。     

基于SAR后向散射的海上溢油检测研究

应用海面雷达后向散射系数检测海上溢油是目前海上溢油遥感监测的一个重要方向。本文以南海Envisat-ASAR数据为例,在分析SAR数据的基础上,应用Envisat-ASAR绝对定标计算方法,计算后向散射系数,研究应用SAR进行海上溢油遥感监测的散射特性,计算目标与海面边界后向散射系数梯度均值0σ与目标与海面后向散射系数均值差Δμ,并以两者结合作为区分海面油膜与自然现象的解译标志,从而为溢油识别提供依据。     

SAR探测水下运动物体波浪尾迹的模拟研究

水下运动物体可以在海面产生波浪,这种波浪与海洋表面波相互作用改变了海浪谱的高低频分布而形成波浪尾迹。将这样的波-波相互作用处理为对背景海浪谱的扰动,利用海面微波散射的二尺度模型,分析波浪尾迹对雷达散射系数的影响,并给出相应的数值计算模型;对水下不同运动状态物体的波浪用汇源分布法计算出波面函数,将它们分别与一些特定海况的海浪波面函数叠加,并对之进行微波后向散射测量仿真计算,给出波浪尾迹的SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar、合成孔径雷达)探测图像;再利用二维谱分析技术对模拟SAR图像进行处理,提取波浪尾迹信息。初步结果表明,SAR探测下运动物体是可行的。
     

运输车散射截面仿真分析*

论文首先分析运输车面临的威胁,并基于其面临威胁的雷达探测频率、极化形式及角域研究典型车辆的后向散射特性,给出运输车散射特性的分布规律,可用于指导同类车辆的雷达波散射特征控制。     

改进Notch滤波的全极化SAR数据船舶检测方法

全极化SAR数据提供了更多的地物极化散射信息,目前被广泛的应用于海上船舶检测的应用研究。本文提出改进的Notch滤波方法,实现全极化SAR数据的海上船舶检测。该方法结合目标的极化散射特性与能量双重特点,设计针对海面、方位向模糊、相干斑噪的不同滤波,消除虚警,通过SPAN能量因子降低由于散射机制相同而造成的漏检。利用RADATSAT-2全极化精细扫描数据对本文的算法进行验证,并与PWF和SPAN方法进行对比分析,实验结果表明本文提出的方法能从海面上有效检测出各种大小的船舶,同时能抑制方位向模糊、相干斑噪以及船舶的旁瓣造成的虚警。     

水云模型于L波段SAR和中国北方森林的适用性分析

水云模型假定来自植被体的体散射是主导散射机制,二面角散射可以忽略;这一假定是否适用于穿透性较强的L波段SAR和中国东北森林有待研究。本文以黑龙江省逊克县森林和ALOS PALSAR全极化数据为基础,分析典型地物的Yamaguchi极化分解散射分量的直方图,研究中国东北典型森林在L波段的散射机制,以确定水云模型的适用性。结果表明,体散射是该地区森林的主导散射机制,树干-地面的二面角散射可以忽略,水云模型的假设条件满足,可以应用于L波段SAR和中国东北森林。     

一种子视相干优化的极化SAR船只检测方法

针对传统单极化SAR船只检测能力不足的问题,提出了一种基于极化SAR图像子视相干的方法来检测船只。该方法在船只和海杂波SAR子视图相干程度分析的基础上,通过调整全极化SAR图像数据的最优极化状态得到3个优化的相干参数,并由此定义了一种最优相干积参数。由于该参数可以保留相干目标(即船只)的强度和相位,因此能够极大提高目标与背景之间的对比度,从而改善后期的目标检测性能。最后,采用机载极化SAR数据来评估本文方法,其试验结果表明,该方法能充分利用目标的极化特征以及子视相干性信息,显著提高了船海对比度,实现了船只检测性能的改进。     

Radar imaging of Kelvin arms of ship wakes

The wave pattern generated by a moving ship is formed by two dominant features: the turbulent wake and a 'V'-shaped pattern trailing the ship, consisting of the two Kelvin arms. In this paper we investigate the radar imaging mechanism of Kelvin arms, which are formed by the cusp waves. A composite surface model for the radar backscattering at the ocean surface is used. The radar signatures of Kelvin arms can be attributed to tilt and hydrodynamic modulation of Bragg waves by the cusp waves. The proposed model allows the computation of the normalized radar backscattering cross-section (NRCS) as a function of radar frequency, polarization, incidence angle, wind speed and direction, and wavelength, direction, and slope of the cusp waves. By using this imaging model, radar signatures of cusp waves are calculated for several spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs): (1) the SEASAT L-band HH-polarized SAR, (2) the ERS-1/-2 VV-polarized SAR, (3) the RADARSAT C-band HH-polarized SAR, and (4) the X-, C- and L-band multipolarization SARs of the Space Radar Laboratory flown on the space shuttle during the SIRC/X-SAR mission in 1994. The results of the simulations are compared with SEASAT and SIR-C/X-SAR imagery of ship wake patterns. It is shown that the dependence of the observed radar signatures of Kelvin arms on radar look direction is consistent with the proposed imaging theory and that the measured relative mean NRCS values induced by Kelvin arms can be fairly well reproduced by the proposed model. The simulations indicate that ship wake signatures should be more clearly visible on SEASAT L-band SAR than on ERS-1/-2 or RADARSAT C-band SAR images. The radar signatures of Kelvin arms are strongest at low wind speeds and are not very sensitive to wind direction.     

Modelling temporal variations in microwave backscattering from reed marshes

A full understanding of radar backscattering characteristics and their seasonal variations is one of the important ways to analyse the growth conditions in wetlands. This research simulated seasonal C-band and L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscattering from reed marshes using a refined version of the electromagnetic (REM) model, which was first validated by time series of multimode SAR observations at the experimental site used. Then, two factors including sensor parameters and vegetation structure, which influence the temporal evolution of the radar response from reed marshes, were assessed. The results demonstrate that the radar response is closely related to growth processes in the reed marsh. At the early growth stage when reed marshes are sparse, the double-bounce mechanism was dominant at all the incidence angles of C-band radar, but for L-band radar, strong specular reflection was produced from the smooth water if the incidence angle is lower than 25°. It was also found that the sensitivity to the density and height of reed marshes is greater for L-band radar than at the C-band, indicating that L-band backscattering may be useful for reed marsh biomass retrieval.     

Waterline mapping in flooded vegetation from airborne SAR imagery

Multifrequency, polarimetric airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) survey of a salt marsh on the east coast of the UK is used to investigate the radar backscattering properties of emergent salt marsh vegetation. Two characteristics of flooded vegetation are observed: backscatter enhanced by approximately 1.2 dB at C-band, and 180° HH-VV phase differences at L-band. Both are indicative of a double bounce backscattering mechanism between the horizontal water surface and upright emergent vegetation. The mapping of inundated vegetation is demonstrated for both these signatures, using a statistical active contour model for the C-band enhanced backscatter, and median filtering and thresholding for the L-band HH-VV phase difference. The two techniques are validated against the waterline derived from tidal elevation measured at the time of overpass intersected with an intertidal DEM derived from airborne laser altimetry. The inclusion of flooded vegetation is found to reduce errors in waterline location by a factor of approximately 2, equivalent to a reduction in waterline location error from 120 to 70 m. The DEM is also used to derive SAR waterline heights, which are observed to underpredict the tidal elevation due to the effects of vegetation. The underprediction can be corrected for vegetation effects using canopy height maps derived from the laser altimetry. This third technique is found to improve the systematic error in waterline heights from 20 to 4 cm, but little improvement in random error is evident, chiefly due to significant noise in the vegetation height map.     

Assessment of an analytical model for sea surface wind speed retrieval from spaceborne SAR

An analytical model based on radar backscatter theory was utilized to retrieve sea surface wind speeds from C-band satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data at either vertical (VV) or horizontal (HH) polarization in transmission and reception. The wind speeds were estimated from several ENVISAT Advanced SAR (ASAR) images in Hong Kong coastal waters and from Radarsat-1 SAR images along the west coast of North America. To evaluate the accuracy of the analytical model, the estimated wind speeds were compared to coincident buoy measurements, as well as winds retrieved by C-band empirical algorithms (CMOD4, CMOD_IRF2 and CMOD5). The comparison shows that the accuracy of the analytical model is comparable to that of the C-band empirical algorithms. The results indicate the capability of the analytical model for sea surface wind speed retrieval from SAR images at both VV and HH polarization.     

On the exploitation of polarimetric SAR data to map damping properties of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

A polarimetric scattering model is proposed to exploit quad-polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to both observe surfactants at sea and provide the first information on the spatial variability of their damping properties. The model is based on the departure from the clean sea surface Bragg/tilted Bragg scattering mechanism. This departure is shown to be a function of the surfactant’s characteristics, and therefore, it is exploited to map them. Case studies of polarimetric SAR data collected during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Gulf of Mexico are examined. The approach is robust enough to successfully exploit both L-band airborne and C-band satellite SAR data. This is of paramount importance, even operationally, since it makes this physical approach cross-sensors and, therefore, suitable to exploit all the operational polarimetric missions, thus allowing a denser spatial/temporal coverage.     

A first try at identification of sea ice using the three beam scatterometer of ERS-1

Regional-scale behaviour of backscattering at C-band is investigated using data of the ERS-1 three-beam scatterometer, the AMI-WIND, during November 1991, over the Arctic ocean. The normalized radar cross-section appears as a linear function of incidence angle, whose two parameters vary considerably between zones of first-year and multi-year sea ice. Once determined the slope parameter of the AMI-WIND data, measured normalized radar cross-sections are corrected to bring them to a single reference incidence angle. False-colour mapping of this variable displays first-year and multi-year sea ice zones as determined previously from several passive micro-wave sensors (ESMR. SSM,/I)     

Multi‐frequency scatterometer measurements on water surfaces agitated by artificial and natural rain

Images of rain events over the ocean acquired by a multi‐frequency/multi‐polarization Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) show different radar contrasts at different frequencies and polarizations. In order to better understand these effects, field and laboratory experiments were performed at different rain rates and wind speeds with scatterometers working at different radar frequencies, polarizations, and incidence angles. Our results show that the dominant scattering mechanism on a rain‐roughened water surface, observed at VV polarization, at all incidence angles is Bragg scattering from ring waves. At HH polarization the radar backscatter is caused by both ring waves and non‐propagating splash products, with the dominating effect depending on incidence angle. The reduction and enhancement of the surface roughness by ring waves and sub‐surface phenomena, respectively, result in a transition wavenumber between reduction of the radar backscattering and its enhancement of about 100 rad m^?1. We assume that this transition wavenumber depends on the drop‐size distribution of the rain. Taking into consideration the different dependencies of the radar backscatter at different frequencies and polarizations on rain rate, we suggest a method to estimate rain rates by calculating the ratio of the radar cross‐sections at L band, VV polarization and at C band, HV polarization. Provided an availability of SAR data at the respective frequency–polarization combinations, this method allows for investigating the nature of small‐scale (convective) rain events over the ocean.     

The effect of changing environmental conditions on microwave signatures of forest ecosystems: preliminary results of the March 1988 Alaskan aircraft SAR experiment

Abstract

In preparation for the first European Space Agency (ESA) Remote Sensing(ERS-I) mission,a series of multitemporal, multifrequency, multipolarization aircraft synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data sets were acquired over the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska in March, 1988. P-, L- and C-band data were acquired with the NASA/JPL Airborne SAR on five differentdays over a period of two weeks. The airborne data were augmented with intensiveground calibration data as well as detailed, simultaneous in situ measurements of the geometric, dielectric and moisture properties of the snow and forest canopy. During the time period over which the SAR data were collected, the environmental conditions changed significantly; temperatures ranged from unseasonably warm (I to 9°C) to well below freezing (-8 to - 15°C), and the moisture content of the snow and trees changed from a liquid to a frozenstate. The SAR data clearly indicate the radar return is sensitive to these changing environmental factors and preliminary analysis of the L-band SAR data shows a 0·4 to 5·8dB increase (depending on polarization and canopy type) in the radar cross section of the forest stands under the warm conditions relative to the cold. These SAR observations are consistent with predictions from a theoretical scattering model. These preliminary results are presented to illustrate the opportunity afforded by the ERS-l SAR to monitor temporal changes in forest ecosystems.     

Island connected sea bed signatures observed by multi-frequency synthetic aperture radar

Multifrequency X-, C-, and L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the northern sea area off the isle of Heligoland in the German Bight of the North Sea have been analysed. The data were collected during the SAR and X-band Ocean Nonlinearities Research Platform North Sea Experiment (SAXON-FPN) which was carried out in November, 1990. Different oceanographic phenomena are visible on simultaneously obtained SAR images. Wind streaks and a vortex street can be identified only on the X- and C-band SAR images. Elongated streaks of predominantly low radar return are related to nearshore reefs and are imaged on all available radar scenes. The imaging mechanism of these submarine ridges is investigated and discussed using with some modifications the simple Bragg relaxation model proposed by Alpers and Hennings. The improved model differs from the original version in the representation of the unperturbed wave-energy spectral density. Also the advection term and the phase modulation (velocity bunching) have been included in the model. Due to the improvements it is now possible to simulate the radar cross-section modulation with the same order of magnitude at 0.4 GHz (X-band) and 5.3GHz (C-band) as well as at 1.3 GHz (L-band). However, the simulated radar cross-section modulation is still underestimated compared with the SAR data, but the phase of the calculated radar cross-section modulation agrees quite well with the SAR measurements.     

Development of polarization ratio model for sea surface wind field retrieval from TerraSAR-X HH polarization data

In this article, the polarization ratio (PR) of TerraSAR-X (TS-X) vertical–vertical (VV) and horizontal–horizontal (HH) polarization data acquired over the ocean is investigated. Similar to the PR of C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the PR of X-band SAR data also shows significant dependence on incidence angle. The normalized radar cross-section (NRCS) in VV polarization data is generally larger than that in HH polarization for incidence angles above 23°. Based on the analysis, two PR models proposed for C-band SAR were retuned using TS-X dual-polarization data. A new PR model, called X-PR hereafter, is proposed as well to convert the NRCS of TS-X in HH polarization to that in VV polarization. By using the developed geophysical model functions of XMOD1 and XMOD2 and the tuned PR models, the sea surface field is retrieved from the TS-X data in HH polarization. The comparisons with in situ buoy measurements show that the combination of XMOD2 and X-PR models yields a good retrieval with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 2.03 m s^–1 and scatter index (SI) of 22.4%. A further comparison with a high-resolution analysis wind model in the North Sea is also presented, which shows better agreement with RMSE of 1.76 m s^–1 and SI of 20.3%. We also find that the difference between the fitting of the X-PR model and the PR derived from TS-X dual-polarization data is close to a constant. By adding the constant to the X-PR model, the accuracy of HH polarization sea surface wind speed is further improved with the bias reduced by 0.3 m s^–1. A case acquired at the offshore wind farm in the East China Sea further demonstrates that the improvement tends to be more effective for incidence angles above 40°.