SAR amplitude probability density function estimation based on a generalized Gaussian scattering model

Gabriele Moser; Josiane B. Zerubia; Sebastiano Bruno Serpico

doi:10.1117/12.567853

10 November 2004 SAR amplitude probability density function estimation based on a generalized Gaussian scattering model

Gabriele Moser, Josiane B. Zerubia, Sebastiano Bruno Serpico

Proceedings Volume 5573, Image and Signal Processing for Remote Sensing X; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.567853
Event: Remote Sensing, 2004, Maspalomas, Canary Islands, Spain

Abstract

In the context of remotely sensed data analysis, an important problem is the development of accurate models for the statistics of the pixel intensities. Focusing on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, this modeling process turns out to be a crucial task, for instance, for classification or for denoising purposes. In the present paper, an innovative parametric estimation methodology for SAR amplitude data is proposed, that takes into account the physical nature of the scattering phenomena generating a SAR image by adopting a generalized Gaussian (GG) model for the backscattering phenomena. A closed-form expression for the corresponding amplitude probability density function (PDF) is derived and a specific parameter estimation algorithm is developed in order to deal with the proposed model. Specifically, the recently proposed "method-of-log-cumulants" (MoLC) is applied, which stems from the adoption of the Mellin transform (instead of the usual Fourier transform) in the computation of characteristic functions, and from the corresponding generalization of the concepts of moment and cumulant. For the developed GG-based amplitude model, the resulting MoLC estimates turn out to be numerically feasible and are also analytically proved to be consistent. The proposed parametric approach was validated by using several real ERS-1, XSAR, E-SAR and NASA/JPL airborne SAR images, and the experimental results prove that the method models the amplitude probability density function better than several previously proposed parametric models for backscattering phenomena.

Citation Download Citation

Gabriele Moser, Josiane B. Zerubia, and Sebastiano Bruno Serpico "SAR amplitude probability density function estimation based on a generalized Gaussian scattering model", Proc. SPIE 5573, Image and Signal Processing for Remote Sensing X, (10 November 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.567853

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