A multi-sensor polarimetric analysis over archaeological sites

The goal of the research is to carry out a new methodology for the study and the detection of surface and subsurface archaeological structures in the two UNESCO ancient cities of Gebel Barkal (Sudan) and Samarra (Iraq). The analysis is carried out by means of polarimetric data of two SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) sensors: RADARSAT-2 and ALOS-PALSAR. In this paper we present the preliminary results obtained by comparing similar incidence angle of ALOS-PALSAR (23.10° and 26.20°) and RADARSAT-2 (27.07°) images and, subsequently, comparing different incidence angle of RADARSAT-2 data with 27° and 45°, in order to find out the most suitable configuration for the detection of archaeological structures.