A new decomposition of radar polarization signatures

Author

Dong, Yunhan ; Forster, Bruce C. ; Ticehurst, Catherine

Author_Institution

Sch. of Geomatic Eng., New South Wales Univ., Kensington, NSW, Australia

Volume

36

Issue

3

fYear

1998

fDate

5/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

933

Lastpage

939

Abstract

A method for the decomposition of radar polarization signatures is developed. The polarization backscattering model is assumed to consist of odd, double, Bragg, and cross backscattering components, and the Mueller matrix is the sum of the Mueller matrices of these four scattering mechanisms. The technique of least squares (LS) is then used to find the best combination of these four components. Using NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) AirSAR data, the results of the decomposition agree with the general understanding of radar backscatter. In most cases, the accuracy of the decomposition is more than 95% for linear polarizations and more than 85% for any other polarizations

Keywords

S-matrix theory; geophysical techniques; radar cross-sections; radar imaging; radar polarimetry; radar theory; remote sensing by radar; synthetic aperture radar; AirSAR; Bragg backscattering; Mueller matrix; SAR; cross backscattering; decomposition; double backscattering; geophysical measurement technique; land surface; least squares; odd backscattering; polarization backscattering model; radar backscatter; radar polarimetry; radar polarization signature; radar remote sensing; radar scattering; scattering matrix; synthetic aperture radar; terrain mapping; Backscatter; Equations; Extraterrestrial measurements; Laboratories; Matrix decomposition; NASA; Polarization; Propulsion; Radar polarimetry; Radar scattering;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.673684

Filename

673684