ERS-ENVISAT Tandem cross — interferometry coherence estimation

ERS-ENVISAT cross-interferometry is a unique tool for a number of applications since it combines a short repeat-pass interval (28 minutes) with a long perpendicular baseline (2 km). Temporal decorrelation effects are limited and the sensitivity to topographic features is strongly enhanced. In this contribution the focus is on problems encountered during the coherence estimation in ERS-ENVISAT cross-interferometry. Because of the ERS-2 Doppler Centroid variations the azimuth common band available is often only a relatively small fraction of the PRF. Similarly, in the case of not ideal baselines, the common range bandwidth is often much smaller than the chirp bandwidth. Furthermore, high phase gradients in the cross-interferograms can significantly affect the coherence estimates. In our contribution we propose methodologies to reduce these problems in the coherence estimation.