Persistent Scatterer Statistics and Their Detection

InSAR time series analysis of deformation fields requires a set of single look complex (SLC) radar images whose pixels accurately represent the InSAR phase. In some surface cover environments, such as vegetated regions where plant growth produces echoes unrelated to the underlying surface, reliable phase estimates are difficult to identify. Persistent scattering (PS) methods sort for the most stable points in an image, so that the deformation estimates are as robust as possible. To date the often-used selection algorithms have not always fully incorporated knowledge of PS point distributions or how they vary by terrain type. Here we show estimates of the probability density functions (pdfs) for several types of surface cover and how the added information can be applied to use MAP rather than MLE estimation to improve selection, and also give insights to the radar scattering processes that give rise to PS pixels.