Recovering radar shadow to improve interferometric phase unwrapping and DEM reconstruction

This letter presents a new approach to actively use radar shadow in order to unwrap and geocode objects that cannot be reconstructed by synthetic aperture radar interferometry alone. This new algorithm may significantly improve phase unwrapping and digital elevation model reconstruction in mountainous topography or in urban areas. The algorithm is explained and examples are given with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, where shadow is a serious problem in Alpine terrain.