SARscape

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems can acquire data in different ways, such as:

• Single or dual channel mode (for instance HH/HV or VV/VH);
• Interferometric (single- or repeat-pass) mode;
• Polarimetric mode (HH,HV,VH,VV);
• By combining interferometric and polarimetric acquisition modes.

Obviously, different acquisition modes are subject to different processing techniques, namely

• Processing of SAR Intensity
  The product generation is limited to the processing of intensity.
  
• Interferometric SAR Processing
  The product generation includes the interferometric phase processing.
  
• Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) Processing
  The product generation includes the polarimetric phase processing.
  
• Polarimetric-Interferometric SAR (PolInSAR) Processing
  
The product generation includes polarimetric and interferometric phase processing.

SARscape is a modular set of functions supporting the above mentioned processing techniques and dedicated to the generation of products based on the following spaceborne SAR sensors:
    - ERS-1 and 2 SAR
    - JERS-1 SAR
    - RADARSAT-1 and 2
    - ENVISAT ASAR
    - ALOS PALSAR-1
    - SAR Lupe
    - TerraSAR X-1 (2 after launch)
    - COSMO-SkyMed-1-2-3 (4 after launch)
    - RISAT-1 (after launch)

and following airborne SAR systems:
    - OrbiSAR-1 (X- and P-band)
    - E-SAR (P,L,C,X-band)
    - RAMSES (P,L,S,C,X,Ku,Ka,W-band)
    - TELAER (X-band)
    - UAV SAR in Stanag format

It provides following modules:

• Basic
  The Basic module includes a set of processing steps (e.g. multi-looking, co-registration, despeckling, feature extraction including coherence, geocoding, radiometric calibration and normalization, classification, segmentation, and mosaicing) for the generation of airborne and spaceborne SAR products based on intensity and coherence. This is complemented by a multi-purpose tool, which includes a wide range of functions - from image visualisation, to Digital Elevation Model import and interpolation, to cartographic and geodet ic transforms.
  
  The basic module is complemented by:
  • Focusing
    It supports the focusing of ERS-1/2 SAR, JERS-1 SAR, ENVISAT ASAR (including Wide Swath developed by Aresys) and ALOS PALSAR-1 data.
  • Gamma and Gaussian Filtering
    It includes a whole family of SAR specific filters. They are particularly efficient to reduce speckle, while preserving the radar reflectivity, the textural properties and the spatial resolution, especially in strongly textured SAR images. Developed by Privateers.
  
  
• Interferometry It supports the processing of Interferometric SAR (2-pass interferometry, InSAR) and Differential Interferometric SAR (n-pass interfereometry, DInSAR) data for the generation of Digital Elevation Model, Coherence, and Land Displacement maps.
  
  The interferometric module is complemented by:
  • ScanSAR Interferometry
    It offers the capabilities to process InSAR and DInSAR data over large areas (400 by 400 km). Developed in collaboration with Aresys.
  • SAR Polarimetry and Polarimetric Interferometry
    It supports the processing of polarimetric and polarimetric interferometric SAR data.
  • Interferometric Stacking
    Based on Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) and Persistent Scatterers (PS) techniques, this module enables to determine displacements of individual features.
  
  
• Quality Assessment Tool
  It includes a set of customized functions for the assessment of SAR data quality in geometric, radiometric, and polarimetric terms.

For further information refer to

• SARscape Flyer
• SARscape Short Technical Description (11MB)
• SAR-Guidebook (16MB)

or by directly contacting the sarmap Team