Edge detection from polarimetric SAR images using polarimetric whitening filter

A new edge detector for polarimetric SAR images based on polarimetric whitening filter aiming at making better use of polarimetric information is proposed. The relativity between different polarization channels including the phase difference and correlation efficient is better utilized in the new algorithm. Therefore, the missing rate is reduced, the continuity of detected edges is enhanced, and the false edge rate is decreased. Experimental results using simulated and real polarimetric SAR data both revealed that the polarimetric information in the SAR data is better utilized in the new algorithm, and the performance for edge detection is better than the typical multichannel ratio of averages algorithms.