Polarisation : applications in remote sensing

In this monograph S.R. Cloude introduces, for the first time, the topics of radar polarimetry and interferometry. This topic was first developed in 1997 and has since developed into a major topic in radar sciences and its applications, in particular to space sciences. In its simplest form it concerns the study of interferograms formed by combining waves with different polarizations and their exploitation to infer important physical properties of the planetary surface being investigated. Written in three main sections, the first four chapters provide a detailed coverage of all major topics of polarimetry, including its basis in electromagnetic scattering theory, decomposition theorems and a detailed analysis of the entropy/alpha approach. The next chapter offers a brief introduction to radar interferometry, before developing in three chapters the important new topic of polarimetric interferometry. In this way it provides a complete treatment of the subject, suitable for those working in interferometry who wish to know about polarimetry, or vice versa, as well as those new to the topic who are looking for a one-stop comprehensive treatment of the subject. The emphasis throughout is on the application of these techniques to remote sensing and the book concludes with a set of practical examples to illustrate the theoretical ideas. Contents......Page 12 1 Polarised electromagnetic waves......Page 14 1.1 The generation of polarised waves......Page 16 1.2 The propagation of polarised waves......Page 22 1.3 The geometry of polarised waves......Page 47 1.4 The scattering of polarised waves......Page 59 1.5 Geometry of the scattering matrix......Page 73 1.6 The scattering vector formulation......Page 80 2 Depolarisation and scattering entropy......Page 84 2.1 The wave coherency matrix......Page 85 2.2 The Mueller matrix......Page 91 2.3 The scattering coherency matrix formulation......Page 98 2.4 General theory of scattering entropy......Page 104 2.5 Characterization of depolarising systems......Page 123 2.6 Relating the Stokes/Mueller and coherency matrix formulations......Page 126 3 Depolarisation in surface and volume scattering......Page 128 3.1 Introduction to surface scattering......Page 129 3.2 Surface depolarisation......Page 146 3.3 Introduction to volume scattering......Page 155 3.4 Depolarisation in volume scattering......Page 168 3.5 Simple physical models for volume scattering and propagation......Page 180 4.1 Coherent decomposition theorems......Page 191 4.2 Incoherent decomposition theorems......Page 202 5.1 Radar interferometry......Page 221 5.2 Sources of interferometric decorrelation......Page 232 6.1 Vector formulation of radar interferometry......Page 247 6.2 Coherence optimization......Page 253 7 The coherence of surface and volume scattering......Page 265 7.1 Coherence loci for surface scattering......Page 266 7.2 Coherence loci for random volume scattering......Page 268 7.3 The coherence loci for a two-layer scattering model......Page 278 7.4 Important special cases: RVOG, IWCM and OVOG......Page 283 8.1 Surface topography estimation......Page 297 8.2 Estimation of height h[sub(v)]......Page 308 8.3 Hidden surface/target imaging......Page 328 8.4 Structure estimation: extinction and Legendre parameters......Page 335 9.1 Radar imaging......Page 353 9.2 Imaging interferometry: InSAR......Page 358 9.3 Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (POLSAR)......Page 360 9.4 Polarimetric SAR interferometry (POLInSAR)......Page 373 9.5 Applications of polarimetry and interferometry......Page 376 Appendix 1 Introduction to matrix algebra......Page 414 Appendix 2 Unitary and rotation groups......Page 424 Appendix 3 Coherent stochastic signal analysis......Page 438 Bibliography......Page 448 E......Page 464 P......Page 465 Y......Page 466 This book combines, for the first time, the topics of radar polarimetry and interferometry. This combination was first developed in 1997 and has since become a major topic in radar sciences and their applications, in particular to space sciences. In its simplest form it concerns the study of interferograms formed by combining waves with different polarisations and their exploitation to infer important physical properties of the planetary surface being investigated. The book is written in three main sections. The first four chapters provide a detailed coverage of all major topics of polarimetry, including its basis in electromagnetic scattering theory, decomposition theorems, and a detailed analysis of the entropy/alpha approach. The next chapter offers a brief introduction to radar interferometry, before developing in three chapters the important new topic of polarimetric interferometry. In this way the book provides a complete treatment of the subject, suitable for those working in interferometry who wish to know about polarimetry, or vice versa, as well as those new to the topic who are looking for a one-stop comprehensive treatment of the subject. The emphasis throughout is on the application of these techniques to remote sensing, and the book concludes with a set of practical examples to illustrate the theoretical ideas. "This book combines for the first time, the topics of radar polarimetry and interferometry. This combination was first developed in 1997 and has since become a major topic in radar sciences and its applications, in particular to space sciences. In its simplest form it concerns the study of interferograms formed by combining waves with different polarizations and their exploitation to infer important physical properties of the planetary surface being investigated."--Jacket This is a monograph concerning the scattering of electromagnetic waves from surfaces to generate information for the purposes of remote sensing. It combines, for the first time, a treatment of two important new ideas, namely information from the orientation or polarisation of the wave and how it can be combined with interferometry