TUTORIAL ON SAR POLARIMETRY

ENVISAT/ASAR Dual Polarisation Case 6. ENVISAT/ASAR DUAL POLARISATION CASE 6.1 ASAR dual polarization data formats 6.1.1 Supported ASAR data formats 6.1.1.1 Alternating Polarization modes The ASAR instrument may be configured to acquire data according to one of the Alternating Polarization (AP) modes. Classical fully polarimetric SAR devices perform data acquisition with two emission and reception polarization channels. ASAR, instead, emits signals on a single polarization channel (H or V) while reception is performed on one or two orthogonal polarizations (H and/or V). The different possible configurations are summarized in the following figure. Received Emitted PP configuration polarizations polarizationH PP 1 H V H PP2 V V 1 ENVISAT/ASAR Dual Polarisation Case H H PP3 V V where PP stands for Partial Polarization or Partially Polarimetric. 6.1.1.2 Supported AP data formats Partial polarization data sets are delivered under different formats adapted to specific types of application. Among the different AP data formats, three are supported by PolSARpro and can be exploited to provide an interpretation of the polarimetric properties of scattering. • Alternating Polarization mode Single-look complex (APS) data format Data type Sets of complex scattering coefficients corresponding to the selected PP configuration Geometry Slant Range Coverage 100 km along-track, 56 - 100 km across-track Pixel spacing Equal to Resolution ...