Polarization State Conformation and Its Application to Change Detection in Polarimetric SAR Data

For polarimetric SAR (POLSAR) images, it is ideal that scattering geometries of the same target should display resemblance between multidate images, which are used in change detection applications, since the scattering mechanisms may change due to the data acquisition geometry. However, sometimes it is difficult to achieve these conditions. An attempt is made to maximize the resemblance between the scattering geometries in multidate images for a specific target. An algorithm is developed based on the polarimetric basis transformation along with the polarization signatures. As a result, the resemblance between the scattering mechanisms of the same target in both images is maximized. The effects predicted by the theory are confirmed by the change detection analysis of POLSAR data acquired by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C mission.