A three-dimensional phase unwrapping algorithm for processing of multitemporal SAR interferometric measurements

Abstract

Phase unwrapping is the problem of reconstructing a function on a grid given its values modulo 2/spl pi/. This is a key problem in SAR interferometry and in other fields. The typical availability of multiple 2D SAR interferograms of the same scene suggest the possibility of considering the data as samples of a function in a 3D space-time. This helps better reconstructing the right solution, in the same way as 2D phase unwrapping provides more reliable solutions than the 1D (quite trivial) algorithm. However, computational needs result increased in the 3D case. In this work we describe the proposed algorithm for 3D phase unwrapping, and show the results obtained on simulated and real SAR images.