A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography

The polarimetric synthetic aperture radar tomography (TomoSAR) technique has proven to be a highly promising cutting-edge microwave remote sensing technique for obtaining forest vertical structure parameters because of its ability in three-dimensional imaging. For distributed scatterers like forests...

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Main Authors: Youjun Wang, Xing Peng, Qinghua Xie, Yanan Du, Bing Zhang, Xiaomin Luo, Weijun Yan, Xinwu Li
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/10988680/
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author Youjun Wang
Xing Peng
Qinghua Xie
Yanan Du
Bing Zhang
Xiaomin Luo
Weijun Yan
Xinwu Li
author_facet Youjun Wang
Xing Peng
Qinghua Xie
Yanan Du
Bing Zhang
Xiaomin Luo
Weijun Yan
Xinwu Li
author_sort Youjun Wang
collection DOAJ
description The polarimetric synthetic aperture radar tomography (TomoSAR) technique has proven to be a highly promising cutting-edge microwave remote sensing technique for obtaining forest vertical structure parameters because of its ability in three-dimensional imaging. For distributed scatterers like forests, tomograms are generally estimated from the polarimetric covariance matrix. And the estimation accuracy of the polarimetric covariance matrix directly determines the accuracy of parameter inversion. However, most of the current covariance estimation methods are relatively simple, and it is difficult to ensure their estimation accuracy. Moreover, most current tomographic focusing estimators suffer from low elevation resolution and are vulnerable to sidelobe interference, leading to inadequate spectral estimation and parameter extraction performance. Based on this, this article first proposes a high-resolution fully polarimetric nonparametric spectrum estimation algorithm with low sidelobes. In this method, the polarimetric covariance matrix of the target pixel is estimated by searching its homogeneous pixels in the neighborhood based on the nonlocal means method, and the interference caused by the neighborhood pixel with great difference in statistical characteristics is eliminated as far as possible. Then, the obtained covariance matrix is reconstructed by eigenvalue decomposition to enhance the real reflected signal, and reduce sidelobe. To validate the proposed method in this article, we perform experimental verification and accuracy evaluation using TropiSAR 2009 fully polarized airborne data collected in French Guiana. The results demonstrate that the new method has more advantages than other methods in forest tomographic focusing and parameters estimation.
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spelling doaj-art-c7fed70f72a74df8b20c61142d4d47fa2025-08-20T03:21:50ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing1939-14042151-15352025-01-0118128821289610.1109/JSTARS.2025.356571710988680A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR TomographyYoujun Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2461-2477Xing Peng1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9240-6347Qinghua Xie2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4293-3354Yanan Du3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1277-564XBing Zhang4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2093-2975Xiaomin Luo5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0439-4978Weijun Yan6Xinwu Li7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0953-3618School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool of Geomatics, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin, ChinaSchool of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, ChinaHainan Provincial Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Centre, Haikou, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaThe polarimetric synthetic aperture radar tomography (TomoSAR) technique has proven to be a highly promising cutting-edge microwave remote sensing technique for obtaining forest vertical structure parameters because of its ability in three-dimensional imaging. For distributed scatterers like forests, tomograms are generally estimated from the polarimetric covariance matrix. And the estimation accuracy of the polarimetric covariance matrix directly determines the accuracy of parameter inversion. However, most of the current covariance estimation methods are relatively simple, and it is difficult to ensure their estimation accuracy. Moreover, most current tomographic focusing estimators suffer from low elevation resolution and are vulnerable to sidelobe interference, leading to inadequate spectral estimation and parameter extraction performance. Based on this, this article first proposes a high-resolution fully polarimetric nonparametric spectrum estimation algorithm with low sidelobes. In this method, the polarimetric covariance matrix of the target pixel is estimated by searching its homogeneous pixels in the neighborhood based on the nonlocal means method, and the interference caused by the neighborhood pixel with great difference in statistical characteristics is eliminated as far as possible. Then, the obtained covariance matrix is reconstructed by eigenvalue decomposition to enhance the real reflected signal, and reduce sidelobe. To validate the proposed method in this article, we perform experimental verification and accuracy evaluation using TropiSAR 2009 fully polarized airborne data collected in French Guiana. The results demonstrate that the new method has more advantages than other methods in forest tomographic focusing and parameters estimation.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10988680/Forest heightfully polarizationlow sidelobesnonlocal meansTomoSARunderlying topography
spellingShingle Youjun Wang
Xing Peng
Qinghua Xie
Yanan Du
Bing Zhang
Xiaomin Luo
Weijun Yan
Xinwu Li
A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Forest height
fully polarization
low sidelobes
nonlocal means
TomoSAR
underlying topography
title A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography
title_full A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography
title_fullStr A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography
title_full_unstemmed A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography
title_short A Novel High-Resolution Fully Polarization Nonparametric Spectrum Estimation Method for Forest SAR Tomography
title_sort novel high resolution fully polarization nonparametric spectrum estimation method for forest sar tomography
topic Forest height
fully polarization
low sidelobes
nonlocal means
TomoSAR
underlying topography
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10988680/
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