Statistical analysis of multilook SAR interferograms for CFAR detection of ground moving targets

This paper examines the statistics of the phase and magnitude of multilook synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferograms toward deployment of along-track interferometry (ATI) for slow ground moving-target indication (GMTI). While the known probability density function (pdf) of the interferogram's phase (derived under the assumption of Gaussian backscatter) is shown to agree almost perfectly for a wide variety of backscatter conditions, the corresponding magnitude's pdf tends to deviate strongly in most cases. Motivated by this discrepancy, a novel distribution is derived for the interferogram's magnitude. This pdf, called the polynomial or p-distribution, matches the real data much more accurately, particularly for heterogeneous composite terrain. For extremely heterogeneous terrain, such as urban areas, both pdfs for interferometric phase and magnitude fail and are extended. Based on these statistics, a completely automatic detection scheme with constant false-alarm rates (CFARs) for slow moving targets is proposed. All involved parameters required to determine the detection thresholds are estimated from the sample data. It is demonstrated, on the basis of experimental airborne SAR data, that this detector is capable of detecting slow moving vehicles within severe ground clutter.     

Intensity and phase statistics of multilook polarimetric andinterferometric SAR imagery

Polarimetric and interferometric SAR data are frequently multilook processed for speckle reduction and data compression. The statistical characteristics of multilook data are quite different from those of single-look data. The authors investigate the statistics of their intensity and phase. Probability density function (PDF's) of the multilook phase difference, magnitude of complex product, and intensity and amplitude ratios between two components of the scattering matrix are derived, and expressed in closed forms. The PDF's depend on the complex correlation coefficient and the number of looks. Comparisons of these theoretically derived PDF's are made to measurements from NASA/JPL AIRSAR data. The results of this paper can be applied to feature classification using polarimetric SAR and to the estimation of decorrelation effects of the interferometric SAR     

基于Mellin变换的K分布参数估计新方法

 K分布是目前SAR图像建模领域应用最广泛、最著名的统计模型之一.当前普遍采用的是基于矩估计的参数估计方法,但其存在等效视数值需要经验获取、容易出现错误估计以及造成K分布失效等问题.为此,本文提出了一种基于Mellin变换的K分布参数估计新方法.该方法以Mellin变换为基础,详细推导了K分布对应的第一个、第二个第二类型的特征函数和它们各自对应的对数矩和对数累积量,最终获得了K分布参数估计简洁的迭代表达式.所提方法不但有效克服了K分布失效的问题,更为重要的是,其把视数同形状参数、尺度参数一样视为待估计的参数,且能够快速准确地迭代出它们的估计值,保证了K分布的拟合精度.实验结果证明了所提方法的有效性.     

最大相干波束同步方法及其性能验证研究

波束同步是分布式InSAR系统的关键技术之一.本文提出一种基于最大相干系数的星载分布式InSAR系统波束同步方法.分析了该波束同步方法下,双站多普勒中心频率的计算方法及双站图像信噪比的损失.进而从干涉图像对去相干、干涉处理中的独立视数以及干涉时刻配准误差的影响几个方面指出该方法相对于传统波束同步方法的优势,并进行了InSAR全流程信号级仿真验证.仿真结果表明,该方法可以有效提高分布式InSAR系统的测高定位精度.     

一种InSAR建筑物图像仿真及高程反演方法

城市建筑区域叠掩、阴影严重,图像理解困难且干涉相位变化复杂紊乱,一直是InSAR处理的困难区域。SAR图像仿真能为图像理解和处理方法研究提供数据支撑,然而现有建筑区域SAR图像仿真方法大多无法获得具有相干性的干涉SAR图像对。该文提出了一种面向建筑区域的干涉SAR复图像对仿真方法,能够获得建筑的复数图像对、干涉相位图以及叠掩成分数目等信息,为城区干涉SAR处理及信息提取研究提供仿真数据支撑。同时,基于仿真中对相位变化规律的分析,提出叠掩区相位解缠时的基准确定方法,解决传统解缠方法面临的叠掩区域干涉相位不连续问题,进而反演建筑高程信息。最后,通过建模仿真结果与实际SAR图像和干涉相位的对比,验证了仿真方法的正确性,并对仿真及实际干涉相位进行解缠和高程反演处理,验证了该文高程反演方法的有效性。      

Estimation of the Equivalent Number of Looks in Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

This paper addresses estimation of the equivalent number of looks (ENL), an important parameter in statistical modeling of multilook synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Two new ENL estimators are discovered by looking at certain moments of the multilook polarimetric covariance matrix, which is commonly used to represent multilook polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) data, and assuming that the covariance matrix is complex Wishart distributed. First, a second-order trace moment provides a polarimetric extension of the ENL definition and also a matrix-variate version of the conventional ENL estimator. The second estimator is obtained from the log-determinant matrix moment and is also shown to be the maximum likelihood estimator under the Wishart model. It proves to have much lower variance than any other known ENL estimator, whether applied to single-polarization or PolSAR data. Moreover, this estimator is less affected by texture and thus provides more accurate results than other estimators should the assumption of Gaussian statistics for the complex scattering coefficients be violated. These are the first known estimators to use the full covariance matrix as input, rather than individual intensity channels, and therefore to utilize all the statistical information available. We finally demonstrate how an ENL estimate can be computed automatically from the empirical density of small sample estimates calculated over a whole scene. We show that this method is more robust than procedures where the estimate is calculated in a manually selected region of interest.     

一种针对多通道GMTI的SAR复图像精确配准方法

提出了一种针对多通道GMTI的SAR复图像精确配准算法。首先,系统分析了配准误差对干涉相位的影响,推导出了对应配准误差的干涉相位Cramer-Rao界,并利用Monte Carlo仿真数据对配准误差的影响进行了量化。在此基础上,通过对待配准图像进行二维精确插值处理,生成模板图像库和相应的相关系数库,以适合多通道GMTI的复图像的相位相关为准则,找出模板图像库和相关系数库中与参考图像具有最大相位相关值的图像作为配准图像,从而实现多通道SAR复图像之间的精确配准。对基于所提算法的实测三通道SAR复图像进行慢动目标检测实验,结果表明所提算法能够提供多通道GMTI所需要的配准精度,证明了该算法的有效性和实用性。      

SAR interferometry: a “Quick and dirty” coherenceestimator for data browsing

Usual coherence estimation in SAR interferometry is a time consuming task since an accurate estimation of the local frequency of the interferometric fringes is required. This paper presents a fast algorithm for generating coherence maps, mainly intended for data browsing. The proposed estimator is based on the speckle similarity of coherent SAR data, and is thus independent of fringe frequency. The following advantages, with respect to the usual estimates, are achieved: (a) The estimator is more than 100 times faster, achieved at the cost of a reduced statistical confidence. (b) The estimator is not affected by possible local frequency estimation errors. (c) The estimator can be directly applied to single look detected images. The theoretical derivation of the statistical properties of the frequency independent estimator is carried out in the stationary case. The nonstationary case is then analyzed on real ERS SAR images     

Dictionary-based stochastic expectation-maximization for SAR amplitude probability density function estimation

In remotely sensed data analysis, a crucial problem is represented by the need to develop accurate models for the statistics of the pixel intensities. This paper deals with the problem of probability density function (pdf) estimation in the context of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) amplitude data analysis. Several theoretical and heuristic models for the pdfs of SAR data have been proposed in the literature, which have been proved to be effective for different land-cover typologies, thus making the choice of a single optimal parametric pdf a hard task, especially when dealing with heterogeneous SAR data. In this paper, an innovative estimation algorithm is described, which faces such a problem by adopting a finite mixture model for the amplitude pdf, with mixture components belonging to a given dictionary of SAR-specific pdfs. The proposed method automatically integrates the procedures of selection of the optimal model for each component, of parameter estimation, and of optimization of the number of components by combining the stochastic expectation-maximization iterative methodology with the recently developed "method-of-log-cumulants" for parametric pdf estimation in the case of nonnegative random variables. Experimental results on several real SAR images are reported, showing that the proposed method accurately models the statistics of SAR amplitude data.     

基于回波的多子带SAR系统载频误差补偿方法研究

为了提高SAR系统的分辨率,在距离向可以通过发射一系列不同载频的窄带信号,通过信号处理的方法实现带宽合成,进而得到等效大带宽信号对应的分辨率。为有效实现带宽合成,要求不同子带回波的载频步进值严格已知,这在某些实际应用环境中,并不能总是满足,因而需要从回波数据中直接估计步进值。该文提出一种基于子带回波数据的载频误差估计与补偿方法。该方法基于压缩后子带回波数据多普勒相位与载频的关系,对子带图像进行干涉处理,提取差分相位,并利用差分相位沿方位向的冗余进行相干积累,获得以实际载频步进值为振荡频率的单频信号,进而通过频谱分析方法得到误差频率,并对子带间相位误差进行补偿。通过该方法,能够实现子带信号的相干合成,提升了SAR数据成像质量。实验数据的处理结果验证了该方法的有效性。     

Differential tomography: a new framework for SAR interferometry

A new interferometric mode crossing the differential synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry and multibaseline SAR tomography concepts, that can be termed differential SAR tomography, is proposed. Its potentials, coming from the joint elevation-velocity resolution capability of multiple scatterers, are discussed. Processing is cast in a bidimensional baseline-time spectral analysis framework, with sparse sampling. The use of a modern data-dependent bidimensional spectral estimator is proposed for joint baseline-time processing. Simulated results are reported for different baseline-time acquisition patterns and two motion conditions of layover scatterers, showing that this new challenging interferometric technique is promising.     

New total carrier phase estimator in fully phase modulated signals

The open-loop phase estimator (OLPE) has been used to recover the carrier phase for burst mode communications. However, OLPE is not optimal in the presence of frequency offset. The authors propose a new carrier phase estimator in a feedforward form to restore the total carrier phase, including the carrier phase offset and/or the carrier frequency offset. The proposed estimator has significantly less complex hardware compared with the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) in practical implementations.<>     

Despeckling SAR images based on a new probabilistic model in nonsubsampled contourlet transform domain

A method for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image despeckling based on a probabilistic generative model in nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) domain was proposed. The shrinkage estimator in NSCT domain consists of a new type of likelihood ratio and prior ratio, both of which are dependent on the estimated masks for the NSCT coefficients. While the previous probabilistic approaches are restricted to parametric models, the limitation is eliminated and the hybrid density model is applied in this paper. The suggested approach does not make heavy assumptions on the NSCT coefficient distribution, so that it can handle complex NSCT coefficient structures. The likelihood ratio is composed of the hybrid density, and the prior ratio is equipped with the selective neighborhood systems to enhance the detail information. The method can effectively adapt the shrinkage estimator to the redundancy property of the NSCT. The proposed approach was applied to real SAR images despeckling and compared through the SAR image vision effect, the equivalent number of looks, and the edge sustain index. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms previous works involved in the paper with the better despeckling result and edge preservation.     

MIMO雷达三维干涉诊断成像方法

2维合成孔径雷达(Synthetic Aperture Radar, SAR)和逆合成孔径雷达(Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar, ISAR)成像是目标散射机理高分辨率分析和散射诊断测量的重要手段,现有被广泛采用的技术主要包括转台ISAR和导轨SAR成像技术。相比于传统的2维成像,3维成像可以提供目标局部散射中心在空间的3维位置和散射强度信息。因此,探索新的、可工程化实现与应用的目标3维成像技术是一项极具吸引力的工作。该文提出一种基于多输入多输出(Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, MIMO)阵列技术的3维干涉成像方法。首先,设计并试验了一种具有高孔径利用率和通过虚拟孔径实现干涉成像功能的MIMO阵列;其次,分析了MIMO阵列合成的两组虚拟孔径所成两幅2维雷达像的干涉相位与目标散射中心高度之间的关系,发展了MIMO雷达3维干涉成像算法;最后,通过数值仿真和原理样机实验验证了所提方法在目标散射机理分析和诊断测量应用中的可行性和有效性。      

地基SAR干涉相位滤波优化方法

地基SAR对边坡进行形变监测过程中,为了获得较高的图像质量和进行相位解缠的需要,往往要对干涉相位进行滤波优化,以提高干涉相位图的信噪比,减少干涉相位图中的残差点,从而有助于更好地进行相位解缠,提高形变监测的精度与可行性。本文针对地基SAR干涉相位图的空变等特性,对地基SAR干涉相位滤波算法进行了研究,着重介绍了四种经典、高效的干涉相位滤波算法,并进行了地基SAR边坡形变监测试验,使用实测干涉数据进行了四种滤波处理,从定量及定性的角度对每种滤波算法进行了比较与评估。最终给出了最优滤波算法,为地基SAR进行干涉相位实时滤波优化及后续数据处理提供了基础。      

Image autocoregistration and InSAR interferogram estimation using joint subspace projection

In this paper, we propose a new method to estimate synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) interferometric phase in the presence of large coregistration errors. The method takes advantage of the coherence information of neighboring pixel pairs to automatically coregister the SAR images and employs the projection of the joint signal subspace onto the corresponding joint noise subspace to estimate the terrain interferometric phase. The method can automatically coregister the SAR images and reduce the interferometric phase noise simultaneously. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation results show that the method can provide accurate estimate of the terrain interferometric phase (interferogram) as the coregistration error reaches one pixel. The effectiveness of the method is also verified with the real data from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X Band SAR and the European Remote Sensing 1 and 2 satellites.     

Efficient identification of non-Gaussian mixtures

Non-Gaussian mixtures are commonly used as parametric models for impulsive interference superimposed on a Gaussian background. In this study, the problem of efficient batch and recursive estimation of the parameters of such mixtures via minimization of the Kullback-Leibler distance is considered. The maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE) provides the starting point for the development of these estimators. First, it is shown that the MLE yields consistent estimates of the parameters, despite the existence of multiple roots in the Kullback-Leibler distance function. Since direct implementation of the MLE is difficult, an alternative estimator, designed with the objective of maximizing the likelihood function, is proposed. A simulation study of the proposed estimator reveals that it performs very well in terms of attaining the Cramer-Rao lower bound. Stochastic approximation is also considered in this study. A “complete data” modification to the standard recursion is presented, which greatly facilitates its implementation. Three initiating estimators are developed for these recursions: an iterative likelihood-based scheme, a batch estimator that uses a histogram of the data, and an iterative scheme that integrates the concept of complete data into the method-of-moments estimator. Upon initiating the modified stochastic approximation recursion with these estimators, it is seen that excellent estimates of the parameters can be obtained     

Intensity-driven adaptive-neighborhood technique for polarimetric and interferometric SAR parameters estimation

In this paper, a new method to filter coherency matrices of polarimetric or interferometric data is presented. For each pixel, an adaptive neighborhood (AN) is determined by a region growing technique driven exclusively by the intensity image information. All the available intensity images of the polarimetric and interferometric terms are fused in the region growing process to ensure the validity of the stationarity assumption. Afterward, all the pixels within the obtained AN are used to yield the filtered values of the polarimetric and interferometric coherency matrices, which can be derived either by direct complex multilooking or from the locally linear minimum mean-squared error (LLMMSE) estimator. The entropy/alpha/anisotropy decomposition is then applied to the estimated polarimetric coherency matrices, and coherence optimization is performed on the estimated polarimetric and interferometric coherency matrices. Using this decomposition, unsupervised classification for land applications by an iterative algorithm based on a complex Wishart density function is also applied. The method has been tested on airborne high-resolution polarimetric interferometric synthetic aperture radar (POL-InSAR) images (Oberpfaffenhofen area-German Space Agency). For comparison purposes, the two estimation techniques (complex multilooking and LLMMSE) were tested using three different spatial supports: a fix-sized symmetric neighborhood (boxcar filter), directional nonsymmetric windows, and the proposed AN. Subjective and objective performance analysis, including coherence edge detection, receiver operating characteristics plots, and bias reduction tables, recommends the proposed algorithm as an effective POL-InSAR postprocessing technique.     

InSAR for estimation of changes in snow water equivalent of drysnow

This paper describes the theoretical relation between interferometric phase and changes in snow water equivalent (SWE) and show results from experiments using ERS-½ tandem data. The main scattering contribution from a dry snow cover is from the snow-ground interface. However, the radar wave will be refracted in the snow. Thus, only small changes in the snow properties between two interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images will change the interferometric phase. This phase change is shown to introduce a significantly increase in the digital elevation model (DEM) height error, although no effects are observed on the degree of coherence. The phase change is also shown to affect the differential interferometric results and may wrongly be interpreted as range displacement. The presented theory and results implies that light snowfall and/or small changes in snow properties between interferometric SAR (InSAR) image acquisitions, may introduce significant height errors in DEM derived from glaciers, ice sheets, or bare ground, even in the case of high degree of coherence. Thus, meteorological observations in addition to degree of coherence must be considered when generating DEM in areas covered with snow or where snow fall is likely to have occurred     

地形测绘用三天线机载干涉合成孔径雷达

回顾了中国科学院电子学研究所重复飞行机载L—SAR干涉系统和机载X波段双天线干涉SAR系统的研制和试验，阐述了利用收发天线分置结构拓展干涉基线长度的方法。在采用三天线的收发天线分置结构机载干涉SAR的基础上，构建三天线的双基线机载干涉SAR，并就其基线精密动态测量和基线优化设计两个关键技术以及系统性能进行了分析。分析结果表明，利用三天线构成的双基线机载干涉SAR是改进相位展开过程、提高高程测量精度的有效方法。