On the Exploitation of Target Statistics for SAR Interferometry Applications

Abstract

This paper focuses on multiimage synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) in the presence of distributed scatterers, paying particular attention to the role of target decorrelation in the estimation process. This phenomenon is accounted for by splitting the analysis into two steps. In the first step, we estimate the interferometric phases from the data, whereas in the second step, we use these phases to retrieve the physical parameters of interest, such as line-of-sight (LOS) displacement and residual topography. In both steps, we make the hypothesis that target statistics are at least approximately known. This approach is suited both to derive the performances of InSAR with different decorrelation models and for providing an actual estimate of LOS motion and topography. Results achieved from Monte Carlo simulations and a set of repeated pass ENVISAT images are shown.