Generalized Polarimetric Model-Based Decompositions Using Incoherent Scattering Models

Abstract

The model-based scattering decomposition pioneered by Freeman and Durden has stimulated research in characterizing polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) scattering phenomenon and its applications. The Freeman and Durden decomposition as originally developed is based on three scattering models for volume, surface, and double bounce. It is known that the decomposition often produces negative scattering powers for a large number of pixels. This implies that the scattering models are inconsistent with the data. In this paper, we investigate the model deficiency problem and propose several algorithms to mitigate it. To achieve this, we developed an incoherent scattering model based on the polarization orientation angle distribution of phase differences. Two approaches are taken to reduce the number of negative power pixels: 1) adopt a volume scattering model by including variable shape factor while keeping the original surface and double bounce models unchanged, and 2) incorporate the incoherent surface or double bounce model while keeping the original volume model. In addition, the combination of 1) and 2) is explored, and the effect of polarization orientation compensation on these algorithms is investigated. The effectiveness of these approaches is compared using L-band AIRSAR and E-SAR PolSAR data. It will be shown that model efficiency is improved with occurrence of negative power reduced to an insignificant level.