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Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications
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Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2018) | Viewed by 182349

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Timo Balz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
Interests: SAR remote sensing; SAR interferometry; surface motion estimation; SAR in archaeology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Soergel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart, Keplerstraße 7, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany
Interests: SAR interferometry; object recognition; image analysis
Prof. Dr. Mattia Crespi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Geodesy and Geomatics Division-DICEA, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Interests: remote sensing big data analysis; optical and SAR satellite remote sensing; photogrammetry and stereo-SAR; 3D terrain and object modeling; GNSS positioning and monitoring; GNSS seismology; GNSS meteorology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Batuhan Osmanoglu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Interests: synthetic aperture radar remote sensing; climate change; glaciers; snow

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The key importance of radar remote sensing for civil applications has been recognized for decades, and enormous scientific and technical developments have been carried out to further improve SAR sensors and SAR data processing.

In recent years, SAR satellite constellations, consisting of two or more satellites, are becoming the “new normal” in SAR remote sensing. The present availability of SAR sensor constellations, such as Cosmo SkyMed, TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X, and the new Copernicus sensors Sentinel-1A and 1B, supply a continuous stream of imagery with a unique short revisit cycle of only six days. Together with many more operational and planned SAR satellite systems, such as Geo-Fen 3 or NASA ISRO SAR (NISAR), this unprecedented amount of high-quality SAR data is suitable for a variety of applications, provided proper data processing methodology are applied.

Future concepts, like a geosynchronous SAR or the use of non-traditional orbits for fast revisiting times over areas of interest, are also important concepts for the future development of SAR remote sensing. Therefore, this wide technological availability stimulates methodological advances and innovative concepts, and new applications are opened or already established ones benefit from a sort of second life.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Timo Balz
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Soergel
Prof. Dr. Mattia Crespi
Dr. Batuhan Osmanoglu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • SAR Sensors
  • SAR Interferometry
  • DEM Generation from SAR Data
  • Surface Motion Estimation from SAR
  • SAR Polarimetry
  • SAR constellations
  • Geosynchronous SAR
  • Ground based SAR
  • SAR applications

Published Papers (28 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 169 KiB  
Editorial
Editorial for Special Issue “Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications”
by Timo Balz, Uwe Sörgel, Mattia Crespi and Batuhan Osmanoglu
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(8), 1233; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10081233 - 06 Aug 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3030
Abstract
n/a Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review, Other

22 pages, 37758 KiB  
Article
Coherence Change-Detection with Sentinel-1 for Natural and Anthropogenic Disaster Monitoring in Urban Areas
by Prosper Washaya, Timo Balz and Bahaa Mohamadi
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(7), 1026; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10071026 - 28 Jun 2018
Cited by 72 | Viewed by 10506
Abstract
Rapid, reliable, and continuous information is an essential component in disaster monitoring and management. Remote sensing data could be a solution, but often cannot provide continuous data due to an absence of global coverage and weather and daylight dependency. To overcome these challenges, [...] Read more.
Rapid, reliable, and continuous information is an essential component in disaster monitoring and management. Remote sensing data could be a solution, but often cannot provide continuous data due to an absence of global coverage and weather and daylight dependency. To overcome these challenges, this study makes use of weather and day/light independent Sentinel-1 data with a global coverage to monitor localized effects of different types of disasters using the Coherence Change-Detection (CCD) technique. Coherence maps were generated from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and used to classify areas of change and no change in six study areas. These sites are located in Syria, Puerto Rico, California, and Iran. The study areas were divided into street blocks, and the standard deviation was calculated for the coherence images for each street block over entire image stacks. The study areas were classified by land-use type to reveal the spatial variation in coherence loss after a disaster. While temporal decorrelation exhibits a general loss in coherence over time, disaster occurrence, however, indicates a significant loss in coherence after an event. The variations of each street block from the average coherence for the entire image stack, as measured by a high standard deviation after a particular disaster, is an indication of disaster induced building damage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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14 pages, 70088 KiB  
Article
Modeling Orbital Error in InSAR Interferogram Using Frequency and Spatial Domain Based Methods
by Xin Tian, Rakesh Malhotra, Bing Xu, Haoping Qi and Yuxiao Ma
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(4), 508; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10040508 - 23 Mar 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6429
Abstract
Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (SAR, InSAR) is increasingly being used for deformation monitoring. Uncertainty in satellite state vectors is considered to be one of the main sources of errors in applications such as this. In this paper, we present frequency and spatial domain [...] Read more.
Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (SAR, InSAR) is increasingly being used for deformation monitoring. Uncertainty in satellite state vectors is considered to be one of the main sources of errors in applications such as this. In this paper, we present frequency and spatial domain based algorithms to model orbital errors in InSAR interferograms. The main advantage of this method, when applied to the spatial domain, is that the order of the polynomial coefficient is automatically determined according to the features of the orbital errors, using K-cross validation. In the frequency domain, a maximum likelihood fringe rate estimate is deployed to resolve linear orbital patterns in strong noise interferograms, where spatial-domain-based algorithms are unworkable. Both methods were tested and compared with synthetic data and applied to historical Environmental Satellite Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ENVISAT ASAR) sensor and modern instruments such as Gaofen-3 (GF-3) and Sentinel-1. The validation from the simulation demonstrated that an accuracy of ~1mm can be obtained under optimal conditions. Using an independent GPS measurement that is discontinuous from the InSAR measurement over the Tohoku-Oki area, we found a 31.45% and 73.22% reduction in uncertainty after applying our method for ASAR tracks 347 and 74, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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21 pages, 38333 KiB  
Article
Ground Deformations around the Toktogul Reservoir, Kyrgyzstan, from Envisat ASAR and Sentinel-1 Data—A Case Study about the Impact of Atmospheric Corrections on InSAR Time Series
by Julia Neelmeijer, Tilo Schöne, Robert Dill, Volker Klemann and Mahdi Motagh
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(3), 462; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10030462 - 15 Mar 2018
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6470
Abstract
We present ground deformations in response to water level variations at the Toktogul Reservoir, located in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. Ground deformations were measured by Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) and Sentinel-1 Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) imagery covering the time periods [...] Read more.
We present ground deformations in response to water level variations at the Toktogul Reservoir, located in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. Ground deformations were measured by Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) and Sentinel-1 Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) imagery covering the time periods 2004–2009 and 2014–2016, respectively. The net reservoir water level, as measured by satellite radar altimetry, decreased approximately 60 m (∼13.5 km3) from 2004–2009, whereas, for 2014–2016, the net water level increased by approximately 51 m (∼11.2 km3). The individual Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) interferograms were heavily influenced by atmospheric effects that needed to be minimized prior to the time-series analysis. We tested several approaches including corrections based on global numerical weather model data, such as the European Centre for Medium-RangeWeather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational forecast data, the ERA-5 reanalysis, and the ERA-Interim reanalysis, as well as phase-based methods, such as calculating a simple linear dependency on the elevation or the more sophisticated power-law approach. Our findings suggest that, for the high-mountain Toktogul area, the power-law correction performs the best. Envisat descending time series for the period of water recession reveal mean line-of-sight (LOS) uplift rates of 7.8 mm/yr on the northern shore of the Toktogul Reservoir close to the Toktogul city area. For the same area, Sentinel-1 ascending and descending time series consistently show a subsidence behaviour due to the replenishing of the water reservoir, which includes intra-annual LOS variations on the order of 30mm. A decomposition of the LOS deformation rates of both Sentinel-1 orbits revealed mean vertical subsidence rates of 25 mm/yr for the common time period of March 2015–November 2016, which is in very good agreement with the results derived from elastic modelling based on the TEA12 Earth model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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18 pages, 9509 KiB  
Article
A Unified Algorithm for Channel Imbalance and Antenna Phase Center Position Calibration of a Single-Pass Multi-Baseline TomoSAR System
by Yuncheng Bu, Xingdong Liang, Yu Wang, Fubo Zhang and Yanlei Li
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(3), 456; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10030456 - 14 Mar 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4225
Abstract
The multi-baseline synthetic aperture radar (SAR) tomography (TomoSAR) system is employed in such applications as disaster remote sensing, urban 3-D reconstruction, and forest carbon storage estimation. This is because of its 3-D imaging capability in a single-pass platform. However, a high 3-D resolution [...] Read more.
The multi-baseline synthetic aperture radar (SAR) tomography (TomoSAR) system is employed in such applications as disaster remote sensing, urban 3-D reconstruction, and forest carbon storage estimation. This is because of its 3-D imaging capability in a single-pass platform. However, a high 3-D resolution of TomoSAR is based on the premise that the channel imbalance and antenna phase center (APC) position are precisely known. If this is not the case, the 3-D resolution performance will be seriously degraded. In this paper, a unified algorithm for channel imbalance and APC position calibration of a single-pass multi-baseline TomoSAR system is proposed. Based on the maximum likelihood method, as well as the least squares and the damped Newton method, we can calibrate the channel imbalance and APC position. The algorithm is suitable for near-field conditions, and no phase unwrapping operation is required. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm has been verified by simulation and experimental results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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20 pages, 14838 KiB  
Article
An Efficient Maximum Likelihood Estimation Approach of Multi-Baseline SAR Interferometry for Refined Topographic Mapping in Mountainous Areas
by Yuting Dong, Houjun Jiang, Lu Zhang and Mingsheng Liao
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(3), 454; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10030454 - 14 Mar 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4286
Abstract
For InSAR topographic mapping, multi-baseline InSAR height estimation is known to be an effective way to facilitate phase unwrapping by significantly increasing the ambiguity intervals and maintaining good height measurement sensitivity, especially in mountainous areas. In this paper, an efficient multi-baseline SAR interferometry [...] Read more.
For InSAR topographic mapping, multi-baseline InSAR height estimation is known to be an effective way to facilitate phase unwrapping by significantly increasing the ambiguity intervals and maintaining good height measurement sensitivity, especially in mountainous areas. In this paper, an efficient multi-baseline SAR interferometry approach based on maximum likelihood estimation is developed for refined topographic mapping in mountainous areas. In the algorithm, maximum likelihood (ML) height estimation is used to measure the topographic details and avoid the complicated phase unwrapping process. In order to be well-adapted to the mountainous terrain conditions, the prior height probability is re-defined to take the local terrain conditions and neighboring height constraint into consideration in the algorithm. In addition, three strategies are used to optimize the maximum likelihood height estimation process to obtain higher computational efficiency, so that this method is more suitable for spaceborne InSAR data. The strategies include substituting a rational function model into the complicated conversion process from candidate height to interferometric phase, discretizing the continuous height likelihood probability, and searching for the maximum likelihood height with a flexible step length. The experiment with simulated data is designed to verify the improvement of the ML height estimation accuracy with the re-defined prior height distribution. Then the optimized processing procedure is tested with the multi-baseline L-band ALOS/PALSAR data covering the Mount Tai area in China. The height accuracy of the generated multi-baseline InSAR DEM can meet both standards of American DTED-2 and Chinese national 1:50,000 DEM (mountain) Level 2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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14 pages, 5499 KiB  
Article
L-Band Temporal Coherence Assessment and Modeling Using Amplitude and Snow Depth over Interior Alaska
by Yusuf Eshqi Molan, Jin-Woo Kim, Zhong Lu and Piyush Agram
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 150; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10010150 - 20 Jan 2018
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5155
Abstract
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) provides the capability to detect surface deformation. Numerous processing approaches have been developed to improve InSAR results and overcome its limitations. Regardless of the processing methodology, however, temporal decorrelation is a major obstacle for all InSAR applications, especially [...] Read more.
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) provides the capability to detect surface deformation. Numerous processing approaches have been developed to improve InSAR results and overcome its limitations. Regardless of the processing methodology, however, temporal decorrelation is a major obstacle for all InSAR applications, especially over vegetated areas and dynamic environments, such as Interior Alaska. Temporal coherence is usually modeled as a univariate exponential function of temporal baseline. It has been, however, documented that temporal variations in surface backscattering due to the change in surface parameters, i.e., dielectric constant, roughness, and the geometry of scatterers, can result in gradual, seasonal, or sudden decorrelations and loss of InSAR coherence. The coherence models introduced so far have largely neglected the effect of the temporal change in backscattering on InSAR coherence. Here, we introduce a new temporal decorrelation model that considers changes in surface backscattering by utilizing the relative change in SAR intensity between two images as a proxy for the change in surface scattering parameters. The model also takes into account the decorrelation due to the change in snow depth between two images. Using the L-band Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS-2) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-2) data, the model has been assessed over forested and shrub landscapes in Delta Junction, Interior Alaska. The model decreases the RMS error of temporal coherence estimation from 0.18 to 0.09 on average. The improvements made by the model have been statistically proved to be significant at the 99% confidence level. Additionally, the model shows that the coherence of forested areas are more prone to changes in backscattering than shrub landscape. The model is based on L-band data and may not be expanded to C-band or X-band InSAR observations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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20 pages, 11558 KiB  
Article
An Accelerated Backprojection Algorithm for Monostatic and Bistatic SAR Processing
by Heng Zhang, Jiangwen Tang, Robert Wang, Yunkai Deng, Wei Wang and Ning Li
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 140; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10010140 - 18 Jan 2018
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4469
Abstract
The backprojection (BP) algorithm has been applied to every SAR mode due to its great focusing quality and adaptability. However, the BP algorithm suffers from immense computational complexity. To improve the efficiency of the conventional BP algorithm, several fast BP (FBP) algorithms, such [...] Read more.
The backprojection (BP) algorithm has been applied to every SAR mode due to its great focusing quality and adaptability. However, the BP algorithm suffers from immense computational complexity. To improve the efficiency of the conventional BP algorithm, several fast BP (FBP) algorithms, such as the fast factorization BP (FFBP) and Block_FFBP, have been developed in recent studies. In the derivation of Block_FFBP, range data are divided into blocks, and the upsampling process is performed using an interpolation kernel instead of a fast Fourier transform (FFT), which reduces the processing efficiency. To circumvent these limitations, an accelerated BP algorithm based on Block_FFBP is proposed. In this algorithm, a fixed number of pivots rather than the beam centers is applied to construct the relationship of the propagation time delay between the “new” and “old” subapertures. Partition in the range dimension is avoided, and the range data are processed as a bulk. This accelerated BP algorithm benefits from the integrated range processing scheme and is extended to bistatic SAR processing. In this sense, the proposed algorithm can be referred to simply as MoBulk_FFBP for the monostatic SAR case and BiBulk_FFBP for the bistatic SAR case. Furthermore, for monostatic and azimuth-invariant bistatic SAR cases where the platform runs along a straight trajectory, the slant range mapping can be expressed in a continuous and analytical form. Real data from the spaceborne/stationary bistatic SAR experiment with TerraSAR-X operating in the staring spotlight mode and from the airborne spotlight SAR experiment acquired in 2016 are used to validate the performances of BiBulk_FFBP and MoBulk_FFBP, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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9511 KiB  
Article
The Role of Resolution in the Estimation of Fractal Dimension Maps From SAR Data
by Gerardo Di Martino, Antonio Iodice, Daniele Riccio, Giuseppe Ruello and Ivana Zinno
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 9; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10010009 - 22 Dec 2017
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4100
Abstract
This work is aimed at investigating the role of resolution in fractal dimension map estimation, analyzing the role of the different surface spatial scales involved in the considered estimation process. The study is performed using a data set of actual Cosmo/SkyMed Synthetic Aperture [...] Read more.
This work is aimed at investigating the role of resolution in fractal dimension map estimation, analyzing the role of the different surface spatial scales involved in the considered estimation process. The study is performed using a data set of actual Cosmo/SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images relevant to two different areas, the region of Bidi in Burkina Faso and the city of Naples in Italy, acquired in stripmap and enhanced spotlight modes. The behavior of fractal dimension maps in the presence of areas with distinctive characteristics from the viewpoint of land-cover and surface features is discussed. Significant differences among the estimated maps are obtained in the presence of fine textural details, which significantly affect the fractal dimension estimation for the higher resolution spotlight images. The obtained results show that if we are interested in obtaining a reliable estimate of the fractal dimension of the observed natural scene, stripmap images should be chosen in view of both economic and computational considerations. In turn, the combination of fractal dimension maps obtained from stripmap and spotlight images can be used to identify areas on the scene presenting non-fractal behavior (e.g., urban areas). Along this guideline, a simple example of stripmap-spotlight data fusion is also presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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29363 KiB  
Article
Time Series Analysis of Very Slow Landslides in the Three Gorges Region through Small Baseline SAR Offset Tracking
by Luyi Sun, Jan-Peter Muller and Jinsong Chen
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(12), 1314; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9121314 - 14 Dec 2017
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6655
Abstract
Sub-pixel offset tracking has been used in various applications, including measurements of glacier movement, earthquakes, landslides, etc., as a complementary method to time series InSAR. In this work, we explore the use of a small baseline subset (SBAS) Offset Tracking approach to monitor [...] Read more.
Sub-pixel offset tracking has been used in various applications, including measurements of glacier movement, earthquakes, landslides, etc., as a complementary method to time series InSAR. In this work, we explore the use of a small baseline subset (SBAS) Offset Tracking approach to monitor very slow landslides with centimetre-level annual displacement rate, and in challenging areas characterized by high humidity, dense vegetation cover, and steep slopes. This approach, herein referred to as SBAS Offset Tracking, is used to minimize temporal and spatial de-correlation in offset pairs, in order to achieve high density of reliable measurements. This approach is applied to a case study of the Tanjiahe landslide in the Three Gorges Region. Using the TerraSAR-X Staring Spotlight (TSX-ST) data, with sufficient density of observations, we estimate the precision of the SBAS offset tracking approach to be 2–3 cm on average. The results demonstrated accord well with corresponding GPS measurements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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4945 KiB  
Article
Ionospheric Reconstructions Using Faraday Rotation in Spaceborne Polarimetric SAR Data
by Cheng Wang, Liang Chen, Haisheng Zhao, Zheng Lu, Mingming Bian, Running Zhang and Jian Feng
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(11), 1169; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9111169 - 14 Nov 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4371
Abstract
It is well known that the Faraday rotation (FR) is obviously embedded in spaceborne polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data at L-band and lower frequencies. By model inversion, some widely used FR angle estimators have been proposed for compensation and provide a new [...] Read more.
It is well known that the Faraday rotation (FR) is obviously embedded in spaceborne polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data at L-band and lower frequencies. By model inversion, some widely used FR angle estimators have been proposed for compensation and provide a new field in high-resolution ionospheric soundings. However, as an integrated product of electron density and the parallel component of the magnetic field, FR angle measurements/observations demonstrate the ability to characterize horizontal ionosphere. In order to make a general study of ionospheric structure, this paper reconstructs the electron density distribution based on a modified two-dimensional computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) technique, where the FR angles, rather than the total electron content (TEC), are regarded as the input. By using the full-pol (full polarimetric) data of Phase Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) on board Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) and International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) models, numerical simulations corresponding to different FR estimators and SAR scenes are made to validate the proposed technique. In simulations, the imaging of kilometer-scale ionospheric disturbances, a spatial scale that is rarely detectable by CIT using GPS, is presented. In addition, the ionospheric reconstruction using SAR polarimetric information does not require strong point targets within a SAR scene, which is necessary for CIT using SAR imaging information. Finally, the effects of system errors including noise, channel imbalance and crosstalk on the reconstruction results are also analyzed to show the applicability of CIT based on spaceborne full-pol SAR data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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4467 KiB  
Article
Fast and Efficient Correction of Ground Moving Targets in a Synthetic Aperture Radar, Single-Look Complex Image
by Jeong-Won Park, Jae Hun Kim and Joong-Sun Won
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 926; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9090926 - 06 Sep 2017
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6103
Abstract
Ground moving targets distort normally-focused synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Since most high-resolution SAR data providers only offer single-look complex (SLC) data rather than raw signals to general users, they need to apply a simple and efficient residual SAR focusing to SLC data [...] Read more.
Ground moving targets distort normally-focused synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Since most high-resolution SAR data providers only offer single-look complex (SLC) data rather than raw signals to general users, they need to apply a simple and efficient residual SAR focusing to SLC data containing moving targets. This paper presents an efficient and effective SAR residual focusing method that is practically applicable to SLC data. The residual Doppler spectrum of the moving target is derived from a general SAR configuration and normal SAR focusing. The processing steps are simple and straightforward, with a limited size of the processing window, e.g., 64 × 64. Application results using simulation data and actual TerraSAR-X SLC data with a speed-controlled vehicle demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, which particularly improves the −3 dB width, integrated sidelobe ratio, and symmetry of the reconstructed signals. In particular, the azimuthal symmetry becomes seriously distorted when the target speed is higher than 8 m/s (or 28.8 km/h), and the symmetry is well recovered by the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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14248 KiB  
Article
Split-Band Interferometry-Assisted Phase Unwrapping for the Phase Ambiguities Correction
by Ludivine Libert, Dominique Derauw, Nicolas D’Oreye, Christian Barbier and Anne Orban
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 879; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9090879 - 23 Aug 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5609
Abstract
Split-Band Interferometry (SBInSAR) exploits the large range bandwidth of the new generation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors to process images at subrange bandwidth. Its application to an interferometric pair leads to several lower resolution interferograms of the same scene with slightly shifted [...] Read more.
Split-Band Interferometry (SBInSAR) exploits the large range bandwidth of the new generation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors to process images at subrange bandwidth. Its application to an interferometric pair leads to several lower resolution interferograms of the same scene with slightly shifted central frequencies. When SBInSAR is applied to frequency-persistent scatterers, the linear trend of the phase through the stack of interferograms can be used to perform absolute and spatially independent phase unwrapping. While the height computation has been the main concern of studies on SBInSAR so far, we propose instead to use it to assist conventional phase unwrapping. During phase unwrapping, phase ambiguities are introduced when parts of the interferogram are separately unwrapped. The proposed method reduces the phase ambiguities so that the phase can be connected between separately unwrapped regions. The approach is tested on a pair of TerraSAR-X spotlight images of Copahue volcano, Argentina. In this framework, we propose two new criteria for the frequency-persistent scatterers detection, based respectively on the standard deviation of the slope of the linear regression and on the phase variance stability, and we compare them to the multifrequency phase error. Both new criteria appear to be more suited to our approach than the multifrequency phase error. We validate the SBInSAR-assisted phase unwrapping method by artificially splitting a continuous phase region into disconnected subzones. Despite the decorrelation and the steep topography affecting the volcanic test region, the expected phase ambiguities are successfully recovered whatever the chosen criterion to detect the frequency-persistent scatterers. Comparing the aspect ratio of the distributions of the computed phase ambiguities, the analysis shows that the phase variance stability is the most efficient criterion to select stable targets and the slope standard deviation gives satisfactory results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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10241 KiB  
Article
PolSAR Land Cover Classification Based on Roll-Invariant and Selected Hidden Polarimetric Features in the Rotation Domain
by Chensong Tao, Siwei Chen, Yongzhen Li and Shunping Xiao
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(7), 660; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9070660 - 01 Jul 2017
Cited by 54 | Viewed by 5606
Abstract
Land cover classification is an important application for polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR). Target polarimetric response is strongly dependent on its orientation. Backscattering responses of the same target with different orientations to the SAR flight path may be quite different. This target orientation [...] Read more.
Land cover classification is an important application for polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR). Target polarimetric response is strongly dependent on its orientation. Backscattering responses of the same target with different orientations to the SAR flight path may be quite different. This target orientation diversity effect hinders PolSAR image understanding and interpretation. Roll-invariant polarimetric features such as entropy, anisotropy, mean alpha angle, and total scattering power are independent of the target orientation and are commonly adopted for PolSAR image classification. On the other aspect, target orientation diversity also contains rich information which may not be sensed by roll-invariant polarimetric features. In this vein, only using the roll-invariant polarimetric features may limit the final classification accuracy. To address this problem, this work uses the recently reported uniform polarimetric matrix rotation theory and a visualization and characterization tool of polarimetric coherence pattern to investigate hidden polarimetric features in the rotation domain along the radar line of sight. Then, a feature selection scheme is established and a set of hidden polarimetric features are selected in the rotation domain. Finally, a classification method is developed using the complementary information between roll-invariant and selected hidden polarimetric features with a support vector machine (SVM)/decision tree (DT) classifier. Comparison experiments are carried out with NASA/JPL AIRSAR and multi-temporal UAVSAR data. For AIRSAR data, the overall classification accuracy of the proposed classification method is 95.37% (with SVM)/96.38% (with DT), while that of the conventional classification method is 93.87% (with SVM)/94.12% (with DT), respectively. Meanwhile, for multi-temporal UAVSAR data, the mean overall classification accuracy of the proposed method is up to 97.47% (with SVM)/99.39% (with DT), which is also higher than the mean accuracy of 89.59% (with SVM)/97.55% (with DT) from the conventional method. The comparison studies clearly demonstrate the efficiency and advantage of the proposed classification methodology. In addition, the proposed classification method achieves better robustness for the multi-temporal PolSAR data. This work also further validates that added benefits can be gained for PolSAR data investigation by mining and utilization of hidden polarimetric information in the rotation domain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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4400 KiB  
Article
On the Design of Radar Corner Reflectors for Deformation Monitoring in Multi-Frequency InSAR
by Matthew C. Garthwaite
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(7), 648; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9070648 - 25 Jun 2017
Cited by 58 | Viewed by 11227 | Correction
Abstract
Trihedral corner reflectors are being increasingly used as point targets in deformation monitoring studies using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques. The frequency and size dependence of the corner reflector Radar Cross Section (RCS) means that no single design can perform equally in [...] Read more.
Trihedral corner reflectors are being increasingly used as point targets in deformation monitoring studies using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques. The frequency and size dependence of the corner reflector Radar Cross Section (RCS) means that no single design can perform equally in all the possible imaging modes and radar frequencies available on the currently orbiting Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. Therefore, either a corner reflector design tailored to a specific data type or a compromise design for multiple data types is required. In this paper, I outline the practical and theoretical considerations that need to be made when designing appropriate radar targets, with a focus on supporting multi-frequency SAR data. These considerations are tested by performing field experiments on targets of different size using SAR images from TerraSAR-X, COSMO-SkyMed and RADARSAT-2. Phase noise behaviour in SAR images can be estimated by measuring the Signal-to-Clutter ratio (SCR) in individual SAR images. The measured SCR of a point target is dependent on its RCS performance and the influence of clutter near to the deployed target. The SCR is used as a metric to estimate the expected InSAR displacement error incurred by the design of each target and to validate these observations against theoretical expectations. I find that triangular trihedral corner reflectors as small as 1 m in dimension can achieve a displacement error magnitude of a tenth of a millimetre or less in medium-resolution X-band data. Much larger corner reflectors (2.5 m or greater) are required to achieve the same displacement error magnitude in medium-resolution C-band data. Compromise designs should aim to satisfy the requirements of the lowest SAR frequency to be used, providing that these targets will not saturate the sensor of the highest frequency to be used. Finally, accurate boresight alignment of the corner reflector can be critical to the overall target performance. Alignment accuracies better than 4° in azimuth and elevation will incur a minimal impact on the displacement error in X and C-band data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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16807 KiB  
Article
Multi-Feature Segmentation for High-Resolution Polarimetric SAR Data Based on Fractal Net Evolution Approach
by Qihao Chen, Linlin Li, Qiao Xu, Shuai Yang, Xuguo Shi and Xiuguo Liu
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(6), 570; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9060570 - 06 Jun 2017
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5175
Abstract
Segmentation techniques play an important role in understanding high-resolution polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) images. PolSAR image segmentation is widely used as a preprocessing step for subsequent classification, scene interpretation and extraction of surface parameters. However, speckle noise and rich spatial features of [...] Read more.
Segmentation techniques play an important role in understanding high-resolution polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) images. PolSAR image segmentation is widely used as a preprocessing step for subsequent classification, scene interpretation and extraction of surface parameters. However, speckle noise and rich spatial features of heterogeneous regions lead to blurred boundaries of high-resolution PolSAR image segmentation. A novel segmentation algorithm is proposed in this study in order to address the problem and to obtain accurate and precise segmentation results. This method integrates statistical features into a fractal net evolution algorithm (FNEA) framework, and incorporates polarimetric features into a simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) superpixel generation algorithm. First, spectral heterogeneity in the traditional FNEA is substituted by the G0 distribution statistical heterogeneity in order to combine the shape and statistical features of PolSAR data. The statistical heterogeneity between two adjacent image objects is measured using a log likelihood function. Second, a modified SLIC algorithm is utilized to generate compact superpixels as the initial samples for the G0 statistical model, which substitutes the polarimetric distance of the Pauli RGB composition for the CIELAB color distance. The segmentation results were obtained by weighting the G0 statistical feature and the shape features, based on the FNEA framework. The validity and applicability of the proposed method was verified with extensive experiments on simulated data and three real-world high-resolution PolSAR images from airborne multi-look ESAR, spaceborne single-look RADARSAT-2, and multi-look TerraSAR-X data sets. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method obtains more accurate and precise segmentation results than the other methods for high-resolution PolSAR images. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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12423 KiB  
Article
Signal Processing for a Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) Video Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with Beat Frequency Division Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW)
by Seok Kim, Jiwoong Yu, Se-Yeon Jeon, Aulia Dewantari and Min-Ho Ka
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 491; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9050491 - 17 May 2017
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 10119
Abstract
In this paper, we present a novel signal processing method for video synthetic aperture radar (ViSAR) systems, which are suitable for operation in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) environments. The technique improves aspects of the system’s performance, such as the frame rate and image [...] Read more.
In this paper, we present a novel signal processing method for video synthetic aperture radar (ViSAR) systems, which are suitable for operation in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) environments. The technique improves aspects of the system’s performance, such as the frame rate and image size of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) video. The new ViSAR system is based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) SAR structure that is combined with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, and multi-channel azimuth processing techniques. FMCW technology is advantageous for use in low cost, small size, and lightweight systems, like small UAVs. MIMO technology is utilized for increasing the equivalent number of receiving channels in the azimuthal direction, and reducing aperture size. This effective increase is achieved using a co-array concept by means of beat frequency division (BFD) FMCW. A multi-channel azimuth processing technique is used for improving the frame rate and image size of SAR video, by suppressing the azimuth ambiguities in the receiving channels. This paper also provides analyses of the frame rate and image size of SAR video of ViSAR systems. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated using an exemplary system. The results of analyses are presented, and their validity is verified using numerical simulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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8725 KiB  
Article
Better Estimated IEM Input Parameters Using Random Fractal Geometry Applied on Multi-Frequency SAR Data
by Ali Ghafouri, Jalal Amini, Mojtaba Dehmollaian and Mohammad Ali Kavoosi
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 445; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9050445 - 05 May 2017
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5025
Abstract
Microwave remote sensing can measure surface geometry. Via the processing of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, the earth surface geometric parameters can be provided for geoscientific studies, especially in geological mapping. For this purpose, it is necessary to model the surface roughness [...] Read more.
Microwave remote sensing can measure surface geometry. Via the processing of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, the earth surface geometric parameters can be provided for geoscientific studies, especially in geological mapping. For this purpose, it is necessary to model the surface roughness against microwave signal backscattering. Of the available models, the Integral Equation Model (IEM) for co-polarized data has been the most frequently used model. Therefore, by the processing of the SAR data using this model, the surface geometry can be studied. In the IEM, the surface roughness geometry is calculable via the height statistical parameter, the rms-height. However, this parameter is not capable enough to represent surface morphology, since it only measures the surface roughness in the vertical direction, while the roughness dispersion on the surface is not included. In this paper, using the random fractal geometry capability, via the implementation of the power-law roughness spectrum, the precision and correctness of the surface roughness estimation has been improved by up to 10%. Therefore, the random fractal geometry is implemented through the calculation of the input geometric parameters of the IEM using the power-law surface spectrum and the spectral slope. In this paper, the in situ roughness measurement data, as well as SAR images at frequencies of L, C, and X, have been used to implement and evaluate the proposed method. Surface roughness, according to the operational frequencies, exhibits a fractal or a diffractal behavior. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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14872 KiB  
Article
A SAR-Based Index for Landscape Changes in African Savannas
by Andreas Braun and Volker Hochschild
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 359; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9040359 - 11 Apr 2017
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7377
Abstract
Change detection is one of the main applications in earth observation but currently there are only a few approaches based on radar imagery. Available techniques strongly focus on optical data. These techniques are often limited to static analyses of image pairs and are [...] Read more.
Change detection is one of the main applications in earth observation but currently there are only a few approaches based on radar imagery. Available techniques strongly focus on optical data. These techniques are often limited to static analyses of image pairs and are frequently lacking results which address the requirements of the user. Some of these shortcomings include integration of user’s expertise, transparency of methods, and communication of results in a comprehensive understandable way. This study introduces an index describing changes in the savanna ecosystem around the refugee camp Djabal, Eastern Chad, based on a time-series of ALOS PALSAR data between 2007 and 2017. Texture based land-use/land cover classifications are transferred to values of natural resources which include comprehensive pertinent expert knowledge about the contributions of the classes to environmental integrity and human security. Changes between the images are analyzed, within grid cells of one kilometer diameter, according to changes of natural resources and the variability of these changes. Our results show the highest resource availability for the year of 2008 but no general decline in natural resources. Largest loss of resources occurred between 2010 and 2011 but regeneration could be observed in the following years. Neither the settlements nor the wadi areas of high ecologic importance underwent significant changes during the last decade. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research, Other

30 pages, 1324 KiB  
Review
InSAR Deformation Analysis with Distributed Scatterers: A Review Complemented by New Advances
by Markus Even and Karsten Schulz
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(5), 744; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10050744 - 13 May 2018
Cited by 66 | Viewed by 10942
Abstract
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a powerful remote sensing technique able to measure deformation of the earth’s surface over large areas. InSAR deformation analysis uses two main categories of backscatter: Persistent Scatterers (PS) and Distributed Scatterers (DS). While PS are characterized by [...] Read more.
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a powerful remote sensing technique able to measure deformation of the earth’s surface over large areas. InSAR deformation analysis uses two main categories of backscatter: Persistent Scatterers (PS) and Distributed Scatterers (DS). While PS are characterized by a high signal-to-noise ratio and predominantly occur as single pixels, DS possess a medium or low signal-to-noise ratio and can only be exploited if they form homogeneous groups of pixels that are large enough to allow for statistical analysis. Although DS have been used by InSAR since its beginnings for different purposes, new methods developed during the last decade have advanced the field significantly. Preprocessing of DS with spatio-temporal filtering allows today the use of DS in PS algorithms as if they were PS, thereby enlarging spatial coverage and stabilizing algorithms. This review explores the relations between different lines of research and discusses open questions regarding DS preprocessing for deformation analysis. The review is complemented with an experiment that demonstrates that significantly improved results can be achieved for preprocessed DS during parameter estimation if their statistical properties are used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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7538 KiB  
Review
Statistical Modeling of Polarimetric SAR Data: A Survey and Challenges
by Xinping Deng, Carlos López-Martínez, Jinsong Chen and Pengpeng Han
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 348; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9040348 - 05 Apr 2017
Cited by 54 | Viewed by 8013
Abstract
Knowledge of the exact statistical properties of the signal plays an important role in the applications of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) data. In the last three decades, a considerable research effort has been devoted to finding accurate statistical models for PolSAR data, [...] Read more.
Knowledge of the exact statistical properties of the signal plays an important role in the applications of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) data. In the last three decades, a considerable research effort has been devoted to finding accurate statistical models for PolSAR data, and a number of distributions have been proposed. In order to see the differences of various models and to make a comparison among them, a survey is provided in this paper. Texture models, which could capture the non-Gaussian behavior observed in high resolution data, and yet keep a compact mathematical form, are mainly explained. Probability density functions for the single look data and the multilook data are reviewed, as well as the advantages and applicable context of those models. As a summary, challenges in the area of statistical analysis of PolSAR data are also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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Other

1 pages, 141 KiB  
Correction
Correction: Garthwaite, M.C. on the Design of Radar Corner Reflectors for Deformation Monitoring in Multi-Frequency InSAR. Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 648
by Matthew C. Garthwaite
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(1), 86; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs10010086 - 10 Jan 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3237
Abstract
After publication of the research paper [1], the author wishes to make the following correction to the paper.[...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
6229 KiB  
Technical Note
Semi-Automated Surface Water Detection with Synthetic Aperture Radar Data: A Wetland Case Study
by Amir Behnamian, Sarah Banks, Lori White, Brian Brisco, Koreen Millard, Jon Pasher, Zhaohua Chen, Jason Duffe, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez and Michael Battaglia
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(12), 1209; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9121209 - 23 Nov 2017
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 7133
Abstract
In this study, a new method is proposed for semi-automated surface water detection using synthetic aperture radar data via a combination of radiometric thresholding and image segmentation based on the simple linear iterative clustering superpixel algorithm. Consistent intensity thresholds are selected by assessing [...] Read more.
In this study, a new method is proposed for semi-automated surface water detection using synthetic aperture radar data via a combination of radiometric thresholding and image segmentation based on the simple linear iterative clustering superpixel algorithm. Consistent intensity thresholds are selected by assessing the statistical distribution of backscatter values applied to the mean of each superpixel. Higher-order texture measures, such as variance, are used to improve accuracy by removing false positives via an additional thresholding process used to identify the boundaries of water bodies. Results applied to quad-polarized RADARSAT-2 data show that the threshold value for the variance texture measure can be approximated using a constant value for different scenes, and thus it can be used in a fully automated cleanup procedure. Compared to similar approaches, errors of omission and commission are improved with the proposed method. For example, we observed that a threshold-only approach consistently tends to underestimate the extent of water bodies compared to combined thresholding and segmentation, mainly due to the poor performance of the former at the edges of water bodies. The proposed method can be used for monitoring changes in surface water extent within wetlands or other areas, and while presented for use with radar data, it can also be used to detect surface water in optical images. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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6323 KiB  
Technical Note
Identification of C-Band Radio Frequency Interferences from Sentinel-1 Data
by Andrea Monti-Guarnieri, Davide Giudici and Andrea Recchia
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(11), 1183; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9111183 - 17 Nov 2017
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 10308
Abstract
We propose the use of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to provide a continuous and global monitoring of Radio Frequency Interferences (RFI) in C-band. We take advantage of the first 8–10 echo measures at the beginning of each burst, a 50–70 MHz wide [...] Read more.
We propose the use of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to provide a continuous and global monitoring of Radio Frequency Interferences (RFI) in C-band. We take advantage of the first 8–10 echo measures at the beginning of each burst, a 50–70 MHz wide bandwidth and a ground beam coverage of ~25 km (azimuth) by 70 km (range). Such observations can be repeated with a frequency better than three days, by considering two satellites and both ascending and descending passes. These measures can be used to qualify the same Sentinel-1 (S1) dataset as well as to monitor the availability and the use of radio frequency spectrum for present and future spaceborne imagers and for policy makers. In the paper we investigate the feasibility and the limits of this approach, and we provide a first Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) map with continental coverage over Europe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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7820 KiB  
Letter
Multi-Layer Model Based on Multi-Scale and Multi-Feature Fusion for SAR Images
by Aobo Zhai, Xianbin Wen, Haixia Xu, Liming Yuan and Qingxia Meng
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(10), 1085; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9101085 - 24 Oct 2017
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4870
Abstract
A multi-layer classification approach based on multi-scales and multi-features (ML–MFM) for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the SAR image is partitioned into superpixels, which are local, coherent regions that preserve most of the characteristics necessary for extracting [...] Read more.
A multi-layer classification approach based on multi-scales and multi-features (ML–MFM) for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the SAR image is partitioned into superpixels, which are local, coherent regions that preserve most of the characteristics necessary for extracting image information. Following this, a new sparse representation-based classification is used to express sparse multiple features of the superpixels. Moreover, a multi-scale fusion strategy is introduced into ML–MFM to construct the dictionary, which allows complementation between sample information. Finally, the multi-layer operation is used to refine the classification results of superpixels by adding a threshold decision condition to sparse representation classification (SRC) in an iterative way. Compared with traditional SRC and other existing methods, the experimental results of both synthetic and real SAR images have shown that the proposed method not only shows good performance in quantitative evaluation, but can also obtain satisfactory and cogent visualization of classification results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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3578 KiB  
Letter
Landslide Displacement Monitoring with Split-Bandwidth Interferometry: A Case Study of the Shuping Landslide in the Three Gorges Area
by Xuguo Shi, Houjun Jiang, Lu Zhang and Mingsheng Liao
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 937; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9090937 - 10 Sep 2017
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5334
Abstract
Landslides constitute a major threat to people’s lives and property in mountainous regions such, as in the Three Gorges area in China. Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) with its wide coverage and unprecedented displacement measuring capabilities has been widely used in landslide monitoring. [...] Read more.
Landslides constitute a major threat to people’s lives and property in mountainous regions such, as in the Three Gorges area in China. Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) with its wide coverage and unprecedented displacement measuring capabilities has been widely used in landslide monitoring. However, it is difficult to apply traditional InSAR techniques to investigate landslides having large deformation gradients or moving primarily in north-south direction. In this study, we propose a time series split-bandwidth interferometry (SBI) procedure to measure two dimensional (azimuth and range) displacements of the Shuping landslide in the Three Gorges area with 36 TerraSAR-X high resolution spotlight (HS) images acquired from February 2009 to April 2010. Since the phase based SBI procedure is sensitive to noise, we focused on extracting displacements of corner reflectors (CRs) installed on or surrounding the Shuping landslide. Our results agreed well with measurements obtained by the point-like targets offset tracking (PTOT) technique and in-situ GPS stations. Centimeter level accuracy could be achieved with SBI on CRs which shows great potential in futures studies on fast moving geohazards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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10266 KiB  
Technical Note
Elevation Extraction and Deformation Monitoring by Multitemporal InSAR of Lupu Bridge in Shanghai
by Jingwen Zhao, Jicang Wu, Xiaoli Ding and Mingzhou Wang
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 897; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9090897 - 30 Aug 2017
Cited by 42 | Viewed by 7175
Abstract
Monitoring, assessing, and understanding the structural health of large infrastructures, such as buildings, bridges, dams, tunnels, and highways, is important for urban development and management, as the gradual deterioration of such structures may result in catastrophic structural failure leading to high personal and [...] Read more.
Monitoring, assessing, and understanding the structural health of large infrastructures, such as buildings, bridges, dams, tunnels, and highways, is important for urban development and management, as the gradual deterioration of such structures may result in catastrophic structural failure leading to high personal and economic losses. With a higher spatial resolution and a shorter revisit period, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) plays an increasing role in the deformation monitoring and height extraction of structures. As a focal point of the InSAR data processing chain, phase unwrapping has a direct impact on the accuracy of the results. In complex urban areas, large elevation differences between the top and bottom parts of a large structure combined with a long interferometric baseline can result in a serious phase-wrapping problem. Here, with no accurate digital surface model (DSM) available, we handle the large phase gradients of arcs in multitemporal InSAR processing using a long–short baseline iteration method. Specifically, groups of interferometric pairs with short baselines are processed to obtain the rough initial elevation estimations of the persistent scatterers (PSs). The baseline threshold is then loosened in subsequent iterations to improve the accuracy of the elevation estimates step by step. The LLL lattice reduction algorithm (by Lenstra, Lenstra, and Lovász) is applied in the InSAR phase unwrapping process to rapidly reduce the search radius, compress the search space, and improve the success rate in resolving the phase ambiguities. Once the elevations of the selected PSs are determined, they are used in the following two-dimensional phase regression involving both elevations and deformations. A case study of Lupu Bridge in Shanghai is carried out for the algorithm’s verification. The estimated PS elevations agree well (within 1 m) with the official Lupu Bridge model data, while the PS deformation time series confirms that the bridge exhibits some symmetric progressive deformation, at 4–7 mm per year on both arches and 4–9 mm per year on the bridge deck during the SAR image acquisition period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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3530 KiB  
Technical Note
Pre-Flight SAOCOM-1A SAR Performance Assessment by Outdoor Campaign
by Davide Giudici, Andrea Monti Guarnieri and Juan Pablo Cuesta Gonzalez
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(7), 729; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs9070729 - 14 Jul 2017
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6141
Abstract
In the present paper, we describe the design, execution, and the results of an outdoor experimental campaign involving the Engineering Model of the first of the two Argentinean L-band Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) of the Satélite Argentino de Observación con Microondas (SAOCOM) mission, [...] Read more.
In the present paper, we describe the design, execution, and the results of an outdoor experimental campaign involving the Engineering Model of the first of the two Argentinean L-band Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) of the Satélite Argentino de Observación con Microondas (SAOCOM) mission, SAOCOM-1A. The experiment’s main objectives were to test the end-to-end SAR operation and to assess the instrument amplitude and phase stability as well as the far-field antenna pattern, through the illumination of a moving target placed several kilometers away from the SAR. The campaign was carried out in Bariloche, Argentina, during June 2016. The experiment was successful, demonstrating an end-to-end readiness of the SAOCOM-SAR functionality in realistic conditions. The results showed an excellent SAR signal quality in terms of amplitude and phase stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)
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