Statistical properties of logarithmically transformed speckle

Author

Xie, Hua ; Pierce, Leland E. ; Ulaby, Fawwaz T.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

40

Issue

3

fYear

2002

fDate

3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

721

Lastpage

727

Abstract

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image processing and analysis, the logarithmic transform is often employed to convert the multiplicative speckle model to an additive noise model. However, this nonlinear operation totally changes the statistics of SAR images. In this communication, we first review the statistical properties of speckle noise in both the intensity and the amplitude formats. Then, we derive the probability density functions, the mean values, and the variances to characterize the log-transformed speckle. Finally we discuss the problems introduced by the logarithmic transform on statistical analysis of SAR images. The statistical models developed in this communication will facilitate subsequent SAR image processing tasks based on the additive noise model

Keywords

noise; radar imaging; remote sensing by radar; speckle; statistical analysis; synthetic aperture radar; transforms; SAR; additive noise model; amplitude formats; image processing; intensity; logarithmically transformed speckle; nonlinear operation; probability density functions; speckle noise; statistical properties; synthetic aperture radar; Additive noise; Image analysis; Image converters; Image processing; Noise level; Probability density function; Speckle; Statistical analysis; Statistics; Synthetic aperture radar;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TGRS.2002.1000333

Filename

1000333