Optimized Multilooking for Robust SAR Image Indexing

Compared to conventional optical images, the classification of remote sensing SAR images represents a rather difficult task. As a rule, the various SAR imaging and product options, the high dynamic range of SAR images, and the presence of speckle noise prevent us from obtaining robust classification results. In the following, we try to circumvent these difficulties by proper pre-processing and despeckling of high resolution SAR images. Our approach aims at adapting the radiometry and the resolution of the scenes to the optimal target recognition capabilities of a classification algorithm. To this end, we have to apply systematic adaptations that provide optimized multilooking of our input data. Then these adapted data can be fed into a scene classification system.