A simple target scattering model with geometric features on crop characterization using polsar data

A simple target scattering model is developed integrating the shape factor and geometric randomness that are less influenced by the SAR configuration, dielectric properties of crop, and the underlying soil conditions, to describe the shape and statistical distribution of the targets, respectively. 47 fully polarimetric RADARSAT-2 images in FQ1W, FQ6W, FQ10W, FQ15W and FQ19W modes with different incidence angles acquired over Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, Canada in 2015 are adopted for the validation. Comparisons of the geometric features with H, α, and RVI, demonstrate that geometric features of wheat, oat, alfalfa, and barely show less fluctuation and more consistent with their growing stages over time till their harvest, but crops with broad leaves such as corn and soybean still show some fluctuations with high geometric randomness. In addition, the plots of n and δ of different crops also shows their potential on the crop classification.