Polarimetric SAR Target Scattering Interpretation in Rotation Domain: Theory and Application

Abstract

Backscattering of radar targets is sensitive to the relative geometry between target orientations and the radar line of sight. This scattering diversity makes imaging radar represented by polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) information processing and applications very difficult. This situation has become one of the main bottlenecks in the interpretation of the target scattering mechanism and quantitative applications. In this work, we review and introduce a new interpretation of the target scattering mechanism in the rotation domain along the radar line of sight. This concept includes the recently established uniform polarimetric matrix rotation theory and polarimetric coherence pattern visualization and interpretation in the rotation domain. The core idea of target scattering interpretation in the rotation domain is to extend the amount of target information acquired at a given geometry to the rotation domain, which then provides fundamentals for the deep mining and utilization of target scattering information. This work mainly focuses on the investigation of derived new polarimetric feature sets and application demonstrations. Comparison study results validate the promising potential for the application of the established interpretation framework in the rotation domain with respect to target discrimination and classification.

Keywords

• Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR)
• Scattering mechanism
• Rotation domain
• Polarimetric target decomposition
• Image interpretation