Generalized polarimetric model-based decompositions using extended incoherent scattering models

The Freeman and Durden decomposition as original developed is based on three scattering models for volume, surface and double bounce. It is known that the decomposition produces negative scattering powers for a large number of pixels. This implies that the scattering models are inconsistent with the data. In this paper, we investigate the negative power problem and propose two algorithms to mitigate it. To achieve this, alternative scattering models have been adopted, and new families of incoherent scattering models are developed. The effectiveness of these approaches is compared using L-band E-SAR polarimetric data. It will be shown that the negative power problem can be reduced to an insignificant level.