Utilization of 2D and 3D information for SAR image analysis in dense urban areas


The increasing resolution of SAR sensors opens the possibility to utilize such data for scene interpretation in urban areas. Different SAR specific phenomena like fore-shortening, layover, shadow and multipath-propagation burden the interpretation or make it impossible. For many urban areas detailed additional information can be extracted from geographic information systems (GIS), which may be used for the mission planning or the analysis of the resulting SAR data. The possible benefit of the incorporation of different kinds of information will be discussed. The first type are 2D vector maps of the differ-ent terrain classes. The second are high resolution digital elevation models (DEM) which represent in raster format the resulting elevation of the terrain and objects on the ground, like buildings. Polyhedral building models can be reconstructed from the DEM. From the orientation of the wall and roof planes the locations of possible double-bounce or total reflections are determined.
Soergel U, Schulz K, Thoennessen U, Stilla U (2002) Utilization of 2D and 3D information for SAR image analysis in dense urban areas. Proc. 4th European conference on synthetic aperture radar, EUSAR 2002. Berlin: VDE, 429-434
[ Stilla.de/pub ]