Detecting Building Layovers in a SAR Interferometric Processor Without External References

Abstract:
A novel technique for the derivation of building layovers is presented. It makes use of the behaviour of the geocoding processing stage embedded in an interferometric SAR processor for this particular case. It is shown how layover pixels create a regular pattern in the range mapping matrices, with a multiple mapping of a single SAR pixel for different DEM cells. The exploitation of these patterns yields a generation of a layover map without the use of external supports. The integration in an interferometric processor with a limited additional computational load and the capability to isolate building signatures are additional benefits. The algorithm is tested on a TanDEM-X spotlight acquisition over Berlin (Germany).