Polarimetric edge detector based on the complex Wishart distribution

A new edge detector for polarimetric SAR data has been developed. The edge detector is based on a newly developed test statistic for equality of two complex covariance matrices following the complex Wishart distribution and an associated asymptotic probability for the test statistic. The new polarimetric edge detector provides a constant false alarm rate and it utilizes the full polarimetric information. The edge detector has been applied to polarimetric SAR data from the Danish dual-frequency, airborne polarimetric SAR, EMISAR. The results show clearly an improved edge detection performance for the full polarimetric detector compared to single channel approaches.

[1]  Søren Nørvang Madsen,et al.  EMISAR: an absolutely calibrated polarimetric L- and C-band SAR , 1998, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[2]  Knut Conradsen,et al.  A test statistic in the complex Wishart distribution and its application to change detection in polarimetric SAR data , 2003, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[3]  H. Skriver,et al.  Change detection in polarimetric SAR data and the complex Wishart distribution , 2001, IGARSS 2001. Scanning the Present and Resolving the Future. Proceedings. IEEE 2001 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (Cat. No.01CH37217).

[4]  N. R. Goodman.  Statistical analysis based on a certain multivariate complex Gaussian distribution , 1963 .

[5]  J. Schou,et al.  Tensor based structure estimation in multi-channel images , 2000, IGARSS 2000. IEEE 2000 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Taking the Pulse of the Planet: The Role of Remote Sensing in Managing the Environment. Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37120).

[6]  A. Lopes,et al.  A statistical and geometrical edge detector for SAR images , 1988 .

[7]  J. Kong,et al.  Theoretical models for polarimetric radar clutter , 1987 .

[8]  Shaun Quegan,et al.  Multi-channel SAR segmentation: algorithms and applications , 1996 .

[9]  Knut Conradsen,et al.  CFAR edge detector for polarimetric SAR images , 2003, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..