Title :
Quantification of Temporal Decorrelation Effects at L-Band for Polarimetric SAR Interferometry Applications
Author :
Seung-Kuk Lee ; Kugler, F. ; Papathanassiou, Konstantinos P. ; Hajnsek, Irena
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Environ. Eng., ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract :
Temporal decorrelation is the most critical issue for the successful inversion of polarimetric SAR interferometry (Pol-InSAR) data acquired in an interferometric repeat-pass mode, typical for satellite or lower frequency airborne SAR systems. This paper provides a quantitative estimation of temporal decorrelation effects at L-band for a wide range of temporal baselines based on a unique set of multibaseline Pol-InSAR data. A new methodology that allows to quantify individual temporal decorrelation components has been developed and applied. Temporal decorrelation coefficients are estimated for temporal baselines ranging from 10 min to 54 days and converted to height inversion errors caused by them. The temporal decorrelations of γTV (volume temporal decorrelation) and γTG (ground temporal decorrelation) depend not only on the wind-induced movement but also strongly on the rain-induced dielectric changes in volume and on the ground at temporal baseline on the order of day or longer. At temporal baselines on the order of minutes, the wind speed is a critical parameter and the speed of 2 m/s already hampers the application of Pol-InSAR forest parameter inversion. The approach is supported and validated by using L-band E-SAR repeat-pass data acquired in the frame of three dedicated campaigns, BioSAR 2007, TempoSAR 2008, and TempoSAR 2009.
Keywords :
airborne radar; data acquisition; decorrelation; estimation theory; radar polarimetry; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; BioSAR 2007; L-band E-SAR repeat-pass data acquisition; Pol-InSAR forest parameter inversion; TempoSAR 2008; TempoSAR 2009; ground temporal decorrelation effect; height inversion error; interferometric repeat-pass mode; multibaseline Pol-InSAR data acquisition; polarimetric SAR interferometry application; quantitative estimation; rain-induced dielectric change; satellite airborne SAR system; temporal baseline estimation; time 10 min to 54 day; velocity 2 m/s; volume temporal decorrelation effect; Height inversion; polarimetric synthetic aperture radar interferometry (Pol-InSAR); temporal baseline; temporal decorrelation;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSTARS.2013.2253448