Coherent scatterers characterization using Time-Frequency analysis of PolSAR data

The concept of so-called coherent scatterers (CSs) has been previously introduced. In this paper, the detection of CSs in single and quad-pol mode is addressed by using Time-Frequency analysis in both azimuth and range directions, and applied to data acquired by airborne F-SAR system in quad-pol mode at S-band and X-band. In single-pol case, a detection approach is applied to characterize CSs. In quad-pol case, a statistical descriptor, i.e. polarimetric coherence indicator, is applied to depict the characteristics of CSs. A comparison between CSs detected at S-band and X-band is performed allowing additional insights in the physical nature of CSs. It was found out that, the percentage of CSs detected from single-pol data is higher at S-band than at X-band.