Multibaseline PolInSAR Using RADARSAT-2 Quad-Pol Data: Improvements in Interferometric Phase Analysis

We apply, for the first time, an equal-scattering-mechanism multibaseline optimization technique on quad-pol satellite images of RADARSAT-2 in order to increase the interferometric coherence. The optimized polarimetric channel results in the selection of new pixel candidates for multibaseline differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar applications, which, otherwise, are not recognized in any single-pol channel. In addition, we analyze the individual performance of this algorithm for rural and urban land covers along with the corresponding optimized scattering mechanisms. The optimized coherence improvement with respect to a single HH channel is shown to be correlated with the interferometric spatial and temporal baselines. Finally, we investigate the performance of this technique on the interferometric phase. The optimized interferograms increase the quality of the phase patterns with respect to those phases recovered in a single copolar channel, e.g., the residual orbital ramps of the RADARSAT-2 images.