Autofocus-Based Estimation of Penetration Depth and Permittivity of Ice Volumes and Snow Using Single SAR Images
Benedikter A, Rodríguez-Cassolà M, Betancourt-Payan F, Krieger G, Moreira A (2021)
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 2021
Journal
Original Authors: Andreas Benedikter, Marc Rodriguez-Cassola, Felipe Betancourt-Payan, Gerhard Krieger, Alberto Moreira
Pages Range: 1-1
DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2021.3135026
Abstract
An intrinsic challenge in the geophysical interpretation of low-frequency SAR imagery of semi-transparent media, such as ice sheets, is the position ambiguity of the scattering structures within the glacial volume. Commonly tackled by applying interferometric and tomographic techniques, their spaceborne implementation exhibits by orders higher complexity compared to missions relying on single SAR images, making them cost expensive or, in the context of planetary missions, even impossible due to limited navigation capability. Besides, even these sophisticated techniques are commonly biased due to inaccurate permittivity estimates, leading to geometric distortions up to several meters. We present a novel inversion procedure to estimate volume parameters of ice sheets, namely, the depth of the scattering layer within the glacial volume and the dielectric permittivity of the ice, based on single-image single-polarization SAR acquisitions. The information is inherent in the processed SAR data as phase errors on the azimuth signals resulting from uncompensated non-linear propagation of the radar echoes through ice. We suggest a local map-drift autofocus approach to quantify and spatially resolve the phase errors and an inversion model to relate them to the penetration depth and permittivity. Testing the proposed technique using P-band SAR data acquired by DLR’s airborne sensor F-SAR during the ARCTIC15 campaign in Greenland shows promising results and good agreement with tomographic products of the analyzed test site.
Authors with CRIS profile
Andreas Benedikter
Lehrstuhl für Hochfrequenztechnik
Gerhard Krieger
Professur für Kognitive Radarsysteme für die Fernerkundung
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Benedikter, A., Rodríguez-Cassolà, M., Betancourt-Payan, F., Krieger, G., & Moreira, A. (2021). Autofocus-Based Estimation of Penetration Depth and Permittivity of Ice Volumes and Snow Using Single SAR Images. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 1-1. https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2021.3135026
MLA:
Benedikter, Andreas, et al. "Autofocus-Based Estimation of Penetration Depth and Permittivity of Ice Volumes and Snow Using Single SAR Images." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (2021): 1-1.
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