SAR polarimetric features of agricultural areas

Abstract The potential of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in monitoring soil and vegetation parameters is being evaluated in extensive investigations, worldwide. A significant experiment on this subject, the Multi-sensor Airborne Campaign (MAC 91), was carried out in the summer of 1991 on several sites in Europe, based on the NASA/JPL polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (AIR-SAR). The site of Montespertoli (Italy) was imaged three times during this campaign at P-, L-, and C-band and at different incidence angles between 20° and 50°. Calibrated full polarimetric data collected over the agricultural area of this site have been analysed and a critical analysis of the information contained in linear and circular co-polar and cross-polar data has also been carried out. Here a guideline for the formulation of crop discrimination algorithms is suggested. It has been found that P-band data are rather effective only in discriminating broad classes of agricultural landscape, while finer detail can be obtained by i...

[1]  H. Zebker,et al.  Imaging radar polarimetry from wave synthesis , 1986 .

[2]  T. Mo,et al.  The Effects of Soil Moisture, Surface Roughness, and Vegetation on L-Band Emission and Backscatter , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[3]  Leila Guerriero,et al.  Radar sensitivity to tree geometry and woody volume: A model analysis , 1995 .

[4]  D. Evans,et al.  Radar polarimetry: analysis tools and applications , 1988 .

[5]  P. Pampaloni,et al.  Sensitivity to microwave measurements to vegetation biomass and soil moisture content: a case study , 1992, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[6]  K. S. Rao,et al.  Frequency dependence of polarization phase difference , 1993 .

[7]  Thuy Le Toan,et al.  Polarimetric discriminators for SAR images , 1992, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[8]  P. Hoogeboom,et al.  Procedures for the description of agricultural crops and soils in optical and microwave remote sensing studies , 1987 .

[9]  Fawwaz Ulaby,et al.  Relating Polaization Phase Difference of SAR Signals to Scene Properties , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[10]  Simonetta Paloscia,et al.  Modeling X and Ka band emission from Leafy vegetation , 1995 .

[11]  F. Ulaby,et al.  Radar polarimetry for geoscience applications , 1990 .

[12]  J. Zyl,et al.  Calibration of polarimetric radar images using only image parameters and trihedral corner reflector responses , 1990 .

[13]  Tsan Mo,et al.  The polarization phase difference of orchard trees , 1990 .

[14]  J. Zyl,et al.  Unsupervised classification of scattering behavior using radar polarimetry data , 1989 .

[15]  W. Boerner,et al.  Interpretation of the Polarimetric Co-Polarization Phase Tern in Radar Images Obtained with the JPL Airborne L-Band SAR System , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[16]  Howard A. Zebker,et al.  Phase calibration of imaging radar polarimeter Stokes matrices , 1990 .

[17]  Leila Guerriero,et al.  Interpretation and model analysis of MAESTRO 1 Flevoland data , 1994 .

[18]  Stephen L. Durden,et al.  Mapping Sub-Tropical Vegetation Using Multi-Frequency, Multi-Polarization Sar Data , 1992, [Proceedings] IGARSS '92 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[19]  G. Schiavon,et al.  Effect of scattering mechanisms on polarimetric features of crops and trees , 1994 .

[20]  Richard K. Moore,et al.  Microwave Remote Sensing, Active and Passive , 1982 .

[21]  Mac 91 on Montespertolk an Experiment for Agro-Hydrology , 1992, [Proceedings] IGARSS '92 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[22]  Simonetta Paloscia,et al.  Model Analysis of Backscatter and Emission from Vegetated Terrains , 1991 .