Temporal decorrelation in L-, C-, and X-band satellite radar interferometry for pasture on drained peat soils

Abstract

Temporal decorrelation is one of the main limitations of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. For nonurban areas, its mechanism is very complex, as it is very dependent of vegetation types and their temporal dynamics, actual land use, soil types, and climatological circumstances. Yet, an a priori assessment and comprehension of the expected coherence levels of interferograms are required for designing new satellite missions (in terms of frequency, resolution, and repeat orbits), for choosing the optimal data sets for a specific application, and for feasibility studies for new interferometric applications. Although generic models for temporal decorrelation have been proposed, their parameters depend heavily on the land use in the area of interest. Here, we report the behavior of temporal decorrelation for a specific class of land use: pasture on drained peat soils. We use L-, C-, and X-band SAR observations from the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), European Remote Sensing Satellite, Envisat, RADARSAT-2, and TerraSAR-X missions. We present a dedicated temporal decorrelation model using three parameters and demonstrate how coherent information can be retrieved as a function of frequency, repeat intervals, and coherence estimation window sizes. New satellites such as Sentinel-1 and ALOS-2, with shorter repeat intervals than their predecessors, would enhance the possibility to obtain a coherent signal over pasture. © 2014 IEEE.