A simple model for SAR azimuth speckle, focusing, and interferometric decorrelation

Author

Gabriel, Andrew K.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

40

Issue

8

fYear

2002

fDate

8/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1885

Lastpage

1889

Abstract

The phenomenon of speckle in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is well known as a characteristic grainy appearance of radar images. Speckle is frequently a significant obstacle to visual interpretations of radar data or target identification. In addition, it is usually the dominant noise source in SAR interferometry, since it is responsible for image decorrelation that degrades interferometric fringes, places severe constraints on orbits, and limits the accuracy of height measurements. This communication deals with the geometric sources of speckle. This conventional picture is extended to the case of vertically separated scatterers, and the formulation that results is applied to the structurally similar topics of azimuth focusing, interferometric decorrelation from defocusing, and atmospheric phase delays.

Keywords

decorrelation; focusing; radiowave interferometry; speckle; synthetic aperture radar; SAR azimuth speckle; SAR interferometry; atmospheric phase delays; azimuth focusing; defocusing; geometric sources; height measurement accuracy; image decorrelation; interferometric decorrelation; model; noise source; orbital constraints; synthetic aperture radar images; target identification; vertically separated scatterers; visual interpretations; Atmospheric measurements; Azimuth; Decorrelation; Degradation; Focusing; Interferometry; Orbits; Radar imaging; Speckle; Synthetic aperture radar;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TGRS.2002.802456

Filename

1036015