New method for symmetric target scattering characterization in polarimetric SAR images

In this study, we propose a new method for symmetric target scattering description using a three-dimensional cylindrical coordinate system. We start from the deterministic symmetric scattering process, and then propose a relationship between a rotation-invariant parameter and the co-polarization ratio to accommodate the natural random depolarization. Physical models of surface and volume scattering are analyzed to study the distribution of different scattering mechanisms. Using this method, both the target scattering mechanism and the rotation behaviour can be described in the representative coordinate system. In experiments, the Cloude-Pottier's decomposition is used for verification. In comparison to the H/alpha scattering plane, the proposed method shows a better discrimination between the forests and the orientated urban area, demonstrating by the C-band RADARSAT-2 San-Francisco fully polarimetric data acquired on April 9, 2008.