Polarimetric SAR Images for Characterization of Urban Targets

This paper addresses the 3D classification of superimposed target scattering mechanisms in polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of urban environments. Theoretically, the solution of this problem is possible with polarimetric tomographic SAR focusing techniques. In this work, we investigate how SAR Tomography (TomoSAR) can be used to identify and distinguish the superimposed target mechanisms. In particular, various strategies are employed to separate and characterize the polarimetric scattering patterns of targets in layover regions. Extensive and comparative analyses are performed to answer how accurately different strategies can identify the polarimetric scattering pattern.