An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors

Polarimetric calibration (PolCal) is essential for the quantitative processing of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data. Traditional distributed target methods typically require at least one corner reflector (CR) to determine the copolarization (co-pol) channel imbalance. However, the deploymen...

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Main Authors: Bowen Chi, Jixian Zhang, Guoman Huang, Lijun Lu, Shucheng Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10854647/
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author Bowen Chi
Jixian Zhang
Guoman Huang
Lijun Lu
Shucheng Yang
author_facet Bowen Chi
Jixian Zhang
Guoman Huang
Lijun Lu
Shucheng Yang
author_sort Bowen Chi
collection DOAJ
description Polarimetric calibration (PolCal) is essential for the quantitative processing of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data. Traditional distributed target methods typically require at least one corner reflector (CR) to determine the copolarization (co-pol) channel imbalance. However, the deployment of CRs is costly and impractical in challenging areas, and therefore, advanced PolCal methods that do not rely on CRs have been developed. One widely used method estimates crosstalk and cross-polarization channel imbalance based on volume-dominated pixels. This method estimates co-pol channel imbalance based on Bragg-like pixels, using the Gauss−Newton method according to the unitary zero helix (UZH) constraint and obtains the final co-pol channel imbalance through fitting. However, the selection of initial values and step sizes affects the convergence of the Gauss−Newton method, while the fixed threshold used in fitting impacts the accuracy of sample selection. These issues collectively influence the precision of the calibration results. Therefore, we proposed an iterative adaptive PolCal method to improve the UZH method from a computational perspective. This method first uses an iterative process to obtain a more accurate global initial value for each block's initial input. It then combined the Levenberg−Marquardt algorithm to adjust step sizes and solve for each block. In addition, the variation coefficient was introduced to achieve adaptive sample selection and enhance fitting accuracy. The effectiveness of our proposed method was validated using GF3 02 satellite two-scene calibration field images. The experiments demonstrated that the proposed method not only ensured convergence but also improved the accuracy and stability of PolCal methods without CRs.
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issn 1939-1404
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spelling doaj-art-27f2bf781be54444bc459265dacbdb3e2025-08-20T03:13:07ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing1939-14042151-15352025-01-01185255527010.1109/JSTARS.2025.353189510854647An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner ReflectorsBowen Chi0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7139-8608Jixian Zhang1Guoman Huang2Lijun Lu3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8458-8491Shucheng Yang4https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7240-5011Moganshan Geospatial Information Laboratory, Huzhou, ChinaMoganshan Geospatial Information Laboratory, Huzhou, ChinaChinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, Beijing, ChinaChinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, Beijing, ChinaChinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, Beijing, ChinaPolarimetric calibration (PolCal) is essential for the quantitative processing of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data. Traditional distributed target methods typically require at least one corner reflector (CR) to determine the copolarization (co-pol) channel imbalance. However, the deployment of CRs is costly and impractical in challenging areas, and therefore, advanced PolCal methods that do not rely on CRs have been developed. One widely used method estimates crosstalk and cross-polarization channel imbalance based on volume-dominated pixels. This method estimates co-pol channel imbalance based on Bragg-like pixels, using the Gauss−Newton method according to the unitary zero helix (UZH) constraint and obtains the final co-pol channel imbalance through fitting. However, the selection of initial values and step sizes affects the convergence of the Gauss−Newton method, while the fixed threshold used in fitting impacts the accuracy of sample selection. These issues collectively influence the precision of the calibration results. Therefore, we proposed an iterative adaptive PolCal method to improve the UZH method from a computational perspective. This method first uses an iterative process to obtain a more accurate global initial value for each block's initial input. It then combined the Levenberg−Marquardt algorithm to adjust step sizes and solve for each block. In addition, the variation coefficient was introduced to achieve adaptive sample selection and enhance fitting accuracy. The effectiveness of our proposed method was validated using GF3 02 satellite two-scene calibration field images. The experiments demonstrated that the proposed method not only ensured convergence but also improved the accuracy and stability of PolCal methods without CRs.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10854647/Distributed targetspolarimetric calibration (PolCal)polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR)
spellingShingle Bowen Chi
Jixian Zhang
Guoman Huang
Lijun Lu
Shucheng Yang
An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Distributed targets
polarimetric calibration (PolCal)
polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR)
title An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors
title_full An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors
title_fullStr An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors
title_full_unstemmed An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors
title_short An Iterative Adaptive Polarization Calibration Method Independent of Corner Reflectors
title_sort iterative adaptive polarization calibration method independent of corner reflectors
topic Distributed targets
polarimetric calibration (PolCal)
polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR)
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10854647/
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