Relating statistical characteristics of cross-polarized phase difference to speckle noise

Abstract

A qualitative relationship between the statistical behavior of cross-polarized phase difference phi(hvvh) and dominant noise type is examined based on the polarimetric noise model proposed. The noise model focusing on the covariance matrix is able to separate the multiplicative noise which only affects the amplitude from the additive noise that alters both the amplitude and phase. In the case of low noise, the phase is not affected by the noise and phi(hvvh) distribution is predicted to be centered at 0 deg in terms of reciprocity theorem. The case of strong noise is much more complicated as the dominant noise type plays an important role in the statistics of phi(hvvh). The phase over the area where multiplicative noise dominates is not altered, thus the phi(hvvh) distribution is expected to have similar behaviors to the case of low noise. However, the dominant additive noise would significantly affect the phase so that an obvious deviation from 0 deg for phi(hvvh) distribution is expected. Experiments with Radarsat-2 full polarimetric imageries further validate this qualitative relationship. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.