Forest height estimation from PolInSAR image using adaptive decomposition method

The target model decomposition based on the scattering mechanism corresponding to surface, double and volume scattering, is one of the powerful tools to analyze and classify terrain for full polarimetric SAR data. However, these decomposition techniques sometimes not only meet negative power but also cannot retrieve vegetation height. This is caused by assumption in the decomposition technique and a limited number of observables. This paper proposes a method to retrieve forest height using an adaptive scattering model decomposition technique with PolInSAR data. This method is based on fusion of adaptive scattering model decomposition technique and the coherence amplitude method. This procedure enables the retrieval not only of the vegetation parameters but also of the magnitude associated with each mechanism. The results are illustrated using simulated data from PolSARproSim software and show that accuracy of the forest height estimation can be enhanced by the proposed method.