Segmentation of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data

A statistical image model is proposed for segmenting polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data into regions of homogeneous and similar polarimetric backscatter characteristics. A model for the conditional distribution of the polarimetric complex data is combined with a Markov random field representation for the distribution of the region labels to obtain the posterior distribution. Optimal region labeling of the data is then defined as maximizing the posterior distribution of the region labels given the polarimetric SAR complex data (maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate). Two procedures for selecting the characteristics of the regions are then discussed. Results using real multilook polarimetric SAR complex data are given to illustrate the potential of the two selection procedures and evaluate the performance of the MAP segmentation technique. It is also shown that dual polarization SAR data can yield segmentation resultS similar to those obtained with fully polarimetric SAR data     

SAR calibration: an overview

Progress in synthetic-aperture radar, (SAR) calibration is reviewed. The difficulties of calibrating both airborne and spaceborne SAR image data are addressed. The quantities measured by a SAR, i.e. radar backscatter, are defined and mathematical formulations for the three basic types of SAR image are developed. The difficulties in establishing science requirements for calibration are discussed. The measurement of SAR image quality is briefly addressed. The problem of radiometric calibration is introduced via the SAR form of the radar equation, with both internal and external calibration approaches considered. The development of algorithms for polarimetric radar calibration is reviewed and the problems involved in phase calibration of interferometric SAR are discussed. Future challenges in the field of SAR calibration are considered     

Measurement of topography using polarimetric SAR images

A processing technique for polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data has been developed which produces profiles of terrain slopes and elevations in the azimuthal (or along-track) direction. This technique estimates the average shift in orientation angle of copolarization backscatter caused by azimuthal tilts of the scattering plane. Using P-band data, tests of this technique have been made for an area in the Black Forest near Villingen/Schwenningen in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. The radar measured slope and derived elevation profiles have low rms errors and high correlation values when compared with a stereo-photograph digital-elevation map (DEM) for the area. This algorithm is capable of adaptively making transitions from the forested areas to nearby regions with open-terrain. Subsequent tests of the algorithm have been conducted using polarimetric SAR L-band data for a mountainous, nonforested, region in the Mojave Desert (Ft. Irwin, CA) where an accurate DEM also was available. Complete elevation and slope mapping of the terrain in two dimensions using this technique is possible when azimuthal elevation profiles are produced throughout the range extent of the SAR image     

基于小波变换和马尔可夫随机场的极化SAR图像自动分类

本文提出一种对极化合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像进行自动多分辨率分类的方法。首先利用多视极化白化滤波(MPWF)抑制极化SAR图像的相干斑,得到反映地物辐射特征的纹理SAR图像,然后利用小波变换(WT)提取不同分辨率的纹理信息,在最低分辨率级利用Akaik信息准则(AIC)自动估计图像中的纹理类数,进而在各个分辨率级利用马尔可夫随机场(MRF)模型表征各像素间的空间关联信息,并分别利用最大似然(ML)方法和循环条件模式(ICM)进行自动的模型参数估计和最大后验概率(MAP)分类,最后应用NASA/JPL机载L波段极化SAR数据验证了本文所提分类方法的有效性和优越性。     

CFAR edge detector for polarimetric SAR images

Finding the edges between different regions in an image is one of the fundamental steps of image analysis, and several edge detectors suitable for the special statistics of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) intensity images have previously been developed. In this paper, a new edge detector for polarimetric SAR images is presented using a newly developed test statistic in the complex Wishart distribution to test for equality of covariance matrices. The new edge detector can be applied to a wide range of SAR data from single-channel intensity data to multifrequency and/or multitemporal polarimetric SAR data. By simply changing the parameters characterizing the test statistic according to the applied SAR data, constant false-alarm rate detection is always obtained. An adaptive filtering scheme is presented, and the distributions of the detector are verified using simulated polarimetric SAR images. Using SAR data from the Danish airborne polarimetric SAR, EMISAR, it is demonstrated that superior edge detection results are obtained using polarimetric and/or multifrequency data compared to using only intensity data.     

Polarimetric SAR calibration experiment using active radarcalibrators

Active radar calibrators are used to derive both the amplitude and phase characteristics of a multichannel polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) from the complex image data. Results are presented from an experiment carried out using the NASA/JPL DC-8 aircraft SAR over a calibration site at Goldstone, California. As part of the experiment, polarimetric active radar calibrators (PARCs) with adjustable polarization signatures were deployed. Experimental results demonstrate that the PARCs can be used to calibrate polarimetric SAR images successfully. Restrictions on the application of the PARC calibration procedure are discussed     

Application of neural networks to radar image classification

A number of methods have been developed to classify ground terrain types from fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, and these techniques are often grouped into supervised and unsupervised approaches. Supervised methods have yielded higher accuracy than unsupervised techniques, but suffer from the need for human interaction to determine classes and training regions. In contrast, unsupervised methods determine classes automatically, but generally show limited ability to accurately divide terrain into natural classes. In this paper, a new terrain classification technique is introduced to determine terrain classes in polarimetric SAR images, utilizing unsupervised neural networks to provide automatic classification, and employing an iterative algorithm to improve the performance. Several types of unsupervised neural networks are first applied to the classification of SAR images, and the results are compared to those of more conventional unsupervised methods. Results show that one neural network method-Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ)-outperforms the conventional unsupervised classifiers, but is still inferior to supervised methods. To overcome this poor accuracy, an iterative algorithm is proposed where the SAR image is reclassified using a maximum likelihood (ML) classifier. It is shown that this algorithm converges, and significantly improves classification accuracy     

Application of neural networks for sea ice classification inpolarimetric SAR images

Several automatic methods have been developed to classify sea ice types from fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, and these techniques are generally grouped into supervised and unsupervised approaches. In previous work, supervised methods have been shown to yield higher accuracy than unsupervised techniques, but suffer from the need for human interaction to determine classes and training regions. In contrast, unsupervised methods determine classes automatically, but generally show limited ability to accurately divide terrain into natural classes. In this paper, a new classification technique is applied to determine sea ice types in polarimetric and multifrequency SAR images, utilizing an unsupervised neural network to provide automatic classification, and employing an iterative algorithm to improve the performance. The learning vector quantization (LVQ) is first applied to the unsupervised classification of SAR images, and the results are compared with those of a conventional technique, the migrating means method. Results show that LVQ outperforms the migrating means method, but performance is still poor. An iterative algorithm is then applied where the SAR image is reclassified using the maximum likelihood (ML) classifier. It is shown that this algorithm converges, and significantly improves classification accuracy. The new algorithm successfully identifies first-year and multiyear sea ice regions in the images at three frequencies. The results show that L- and P-band images have similar characteristics, while the C-band image is substantially different. Classification based on single features is also carried out using LVQ and the iterative ML method. It is found that the fully polarimetric classification provides a higher accuracy than those based on a single feature. The significance of multilook classification is demonstrated by comparing the results obtained using four-look and single-look classifications     

From Glacier Facies to SAR Backscatter Zones via GPR

We present a comparison between data acquired with frequency-modulated ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Both radars are polarimetric and operate at a center frequency of 5.3 GHz. The field site is the polythermal glacier Kongsvegen, Svalbard. Along glacier GPR profiles cover the ablation area and the accumulation area, where the latter consists of superimposed ice (SI) and firn. The glacier facies are clearly identifiable on the GPR profiles, although we show that the copolarized response is better for distinguishing different ice zones, whereas the SI–firn boundary is most obvious in the cross-polarized response. A calibrated backscatter coefficient is calculated for the GPR data and compared with the SAR backscatter coefficient. The SAR zones are in very good agreement with the GPR-derived glacier facies. We show that, in the ablation area, the SAR response is dominated by backscatter from the previous summer surface. In the SI and firn areas, it is dominated by sources below the previous summer surface.      

A three-component scattering model for polarimetric SAR data

An approach has been developed that involves the fit of a combination of three simple scattering mechanisms to polarimetric SAR observations. The mechanisms are canopy scatter from a cloud of randomly oriented dipoles, evenor double-bounce scatter from a pair of orthogonal surfaces with different dielectric constants and Bragg scatter from a moderately rough surface. This composite scattering model is used to describe the polarimetric backscatter from naturally occurring scatterers. The model is shown to describe the behavior of polarimetric backscatter from tropical rain forests quite well by applying it to data from NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPLs) airborne polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (AIRSAR) system. The model fit allows clear discrimination between flooded and nonflooded forest and between forested and deforested areas, for example. The model is also shown to be usable as a predictive tool to estimate the effects of forest inundation and disturbance on the fully polarimetric radar signature. An advantage of this model fit approach is that the scattering contributions from the three basic scattering mechanisms can be estimated for clusters of pixels in polarimetric SAR images. Furthermore, it is shown that the contributions of the three scattering mechanisms to the HH, HV, and VV backscatter can be calculated from the model fit. Finally, this model fit approach is justified as a simplification of more complicated scattering models, which require many inputs to solve the forward scattering problem     

Polarimetric SAR image signatures of the ocean and Gulf Streamfeatures

Polarimetric signatures and related polarimetric properties of microwave ocean backscatter are analyzed for both the ambient ocean and for ocean features such as those associated with the Gulf Stream. Interpretation of the polarimetric signatures for the ocean surface is accomplished using a tilted-Bragg theoretical model. This model is used to calculate the EM fields, to second order, which is necessary to compute the full Stokes matrix and, ultimately, the polarimetric signature. The polarimetric studies lead to a technique for potentially improving the visibility of all azimuthally traveling waves in real-aperture radar (RAR) images and very long waves in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images. This technique utilizes linear polarization signatures to maximize the instrument sensitivity to azimuthally traveling waves. Wave tilts create a modulation of the cell polarization orientation which, in turn, modulates the backscatter. Critical to the success of this technique is that the ocean polarimetric signatures be sharply peaked (i.e., returns be highly polarized). The polarimetric contribution to the overall modulation transfer function is evaluated     

Fractional Brownian motion models for synthetic aperture radarimagery scene segmentation

The application of fractal random process models and their related scaling parameters as features in the analysis and segmentation of clutter in high-resolution, polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is demonstrated. Specifically, the fractal dimension of natural clutter sources, such as grass and trees, is computed and used as a texture feature for a Bayesian classifier. The SAR shadows are segmented in a separate manner using the original backscatter power as a discriminant. The proposed segmentation process yields a three-class segmentation map for the scenes considered in this study (with three clutter types: shadows, trees, and grass). The difficulty of computing texture metrics in high-speckle SAR imagery is addressed. In particular, a two-step preprocessing approach consisting of polarimetric minimum speckle filtering followed by noncoherent spatial averaging is used. The relevance of the resulting segmentation maps to constant-false-alarm-rate (CFAR) radar target detection techniques is discussed     

Initialization of Markov random field clustering of large remote sensing images

Markov random field (MRF) clustering, utilizing both spectral and spatial interpixel dependency information, often improves classification accuracy for remote sensing images, such as multichannel polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. However, it is heavily sensitive to initial conditions such as the choice of the number of clusters and their parameters. In this paper, an initialization scheme for MRF clustering approaches is suggested for remote sensing images. The proposed method derives suitable initial cluster parameters from a set of homogeneous regions, and estimates the number of clusters using the pseudolikelihood information criterion (PLIC). The method works best for an image consisting of many large homogeneous regions, such as agricultural crops areas. It is illustrated using a well-known polarimetric SAR image of Flevoland in the Netherlands. The experiment shows a superior performance compared to several other methods, such as fuzzy C-means and iterated conditional modes (ICM) clustering.     

Radar measurements of snow: experiment and analysis

This paper considers two specific types of experiments conducted to improve the authors' understanding of radar backscatter from snow-covered ground surfaces. The first experiment involves radar backscatter measurements at Cand X-band of artificial snow of varying depths. The relatively simple target characteristics, combined with an exhaustive ground truth effort, make the results of this experiment especially amenable to comparison with predictions based on theoretical methods for modeling volume-scattering media. It is shown that both conventional and dense-medium radiative transfer models fail to adequately explain the observed results. A direct polarimetric inversion approach is described by which the characteristics of the snow medium are extracted from the measured data. The second type of experiment examined in this study involves diurnal backscatter measurements that were made contemporaneously with detailed measurements of the snow-wetness depth profiles of the observed scene. These data are used to evaluate the capability of a recently proposed algorithm for snow wetness retrieval from polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements, which has hithertofore been applied only to data from very complex and extended mountainous terrains     

快速搜索算法与极化合成孔径雷达三维成像

从全极化(hh,hv,vh,vv)合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像数据中,可提取方位向的地势倾斜度信息,形成极化SAR三维成像。该文重点研究极化 SAR三维成像快速算法;提出由 Stokes矢量推导的的极化椭圆方向用解模糊算法;讨论目标极化散射特性对提取地势高度信息的影响以及处理方法;并利用真实的极化 SAR图像数据得到了极化三维成像结果。     

Radar polarimetry: analysis tools and applications

The authors have developed several techniques to analyze polarimetric radar data from the NASA/JPL airborne SAR for Earth science applications. The techniques determine the heterogeneity of scatterers with subregions, optimize the return power from these areas, and identify probable scattering mechanisms for each pixel in a radar image. These techniques are applied to the discrimination and characterization of geologic surfaces and vegetation cover, and it is found that their utility varies depending on the terrain type. It is concluded that there are several classes of problems amenable to single-frequency polarimetric data analysis, including characterization of surface roughness and vegetation structure, and estimation of vegetation density. Polarimetric radar remote sensing can thus be a useful tool for monitoring a set of Earth science parameters     

Study on speckle reduction in multi-look polarimetric SAR image

This paper studies the speckle reduction in multi-look polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image. A multi-look polarimetric whitening filtering (MPWF) method is presented and extended to form a fully polarimetric filter with multi-channel output. The paper also quantifies the speckle reduction amount achievable by the MPWF, and compares the MPWF with the span, weighting and power equalization methods. Experimental results with the NASA/JPL L-band 4-look polarimetric SAR data verify the effectiveness and superiority of the MPWF, and show that the MPWF is of great advantage for enhancing SAR image classification.     

基于支持向量机的极化SAR图像分类

极化合成孔径雷达可以同时得到地面场景在不同极化组合下的雷达图像,极大地丰富了获取的地物目标信息量。针对极化SAR图像特征提取和目标分类的困难,由4种基本极化组成样本向量,运用基于统计学习理论的支持向量机以及不同的核函数设计分类器,提出了一种新的极化SAR图像分类算法,并对实测极化SAR数据进行分类实验。结果表明,将支持向量机分类器应用于极化SAR图像分类中是可行和有效的,并且通过选择适当的惩罚系数,可以进一步提高分类效果。     

基于三维矩阵变换的多极化SAR图像压缩

本文针对多极化合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像在极化通道之间的相关性,提出了基于三维矩阵变换的压缩方法.将多极化SAR图像(HH,HV,VV图像)作为一个整体,进行三维矩阵变换.首先在极化通道之间进行一维DCT变换,极化平面内进行二维离散小波变换,然后对三个混合系数平面根据率失真准则分配不同比特数,采用分级树的集合划分(SPIHT)算法进行编码.由于不是单独处理每一极化图像,因此不仅可以去除各极化图像内部之间的相关性,也可以去除极化通道之间的相关性.理论推导和实验结果都表明该方法对多极化SAR图像压缩是十分有效的.     

采用流形近邻传播聚类的极化SAR图像分类

针对传统近邻传播（Affinity Propagation, AP）聚类算法使用欧式距离构建相似度矩阵,不能有效描述极化SAR数据复杂分布的问题,本文提出一种新的基于联合流形距离的AP聚类算法(CMD-AP) 用于极化SAR图像分类。首先将待分类极化SAR图像分割成若干超像素,在相应的极化特征基础上加入图像纹理特征,利用拉普拉斯特征映射算法对特征降维;然后结合相干矩阵Wishart流形和特征矢量欧式流形作为流形距离测度,构造相似性矩阵;最后利用上述相似性矩阵,采用AP聚类算法,对极化SAR图像进行分类。该算法充分考虑了极化SAR数据集潜在的流形结构,将联合的流形距离测度引入AP算法中。实验表明,本文算法提高了极化SAR图像的分类精度,具有更优的区域一致性和边缘保持效果。