Polarimetric SAR Change Detection in Multiple Frequency Bands for Environmental Monitoring and Surveillance in Arctic Regions

Abstract:
The paper presents a comparison of automatic temporal change detection techniques on the basis of SAR data acquired during the 2015 DALO-ARCTIC campaign in Greenland. The data, acquired by DLR’s F-SAR sensor, includes fully polarimetric imagery at X-, C-, S- and L-band with temporal baselines ranging from very short (less than one hour) to long (more than three weeks). Results for both coherent (interferometric) and incoherent (polarimetric) change detection are presented, compared and discussed, taking into account the known environmental conditions during and between data acquisitions. They suggest that natural environmental changes in Arctic regions, such as snow fall or thaw, have a significant impact on the polarimetric/interferometric SAR signal that can, in some cases, dominate the change detection result, especially for long temporal baselines.