Differential Tomography Applications to Volumetric Scatterers: Simulated and Real Analyses for Ice and Forest Scenarios

Abstract:
3D SAR Tomography exploiting multibaseline data is an important evolution of SAR Interferometry, to sense complex scenarios with multiple scatterers mapped in the SAR cell. This concept has been also integrated with multipass Differential Interferometry, producing the Differential Tomography (Diff-Tomo, “4D”) mode which furnishes “space-time” signatures of multiple dynamic scatterers. Diff-Tomo has been usefully applied to subsidence monitoring in garbled layover urban areas. Other emerging interferometric and tomographic remote sensing applications regard natural scenarios, in particular ice and forest. However, these are characterized by volumetric and temporal decorrelating scatterering, are even more complex than the urban one, and a set of both tomographic processing open issues and information extraction opportunities exists. In this paper unique Diff-Tomo enabled capabilities of velocity profiling and robust reflectivity profiling of non-rigid and/or decorrelating volumetric scatterers are investigated, showing simulated and real airborne multipass data analyses.