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PolarimetricobservationbyPALSAR
PALSARisthefirstsatelliteborneLbandsyntheticapertureradarcapableoffullypolarimetric
observation.Polarizationisanindexdescribingthecharacteristicsofelectromagneticwavesandisused
toexpresstheorientationoftheelectricfield.Whentheelectricfieldisvertical,theelectromagneticwave
issaidtobeverticallypolarized.Whentheelectricfieldishorizontal,theelectromagneticwaveissaidto
behorizontallypolarized.Ellipticallyandcircularlypolarizedwavesareformedbycombiningthevertically
andhorizontallypolarizedwaves.Figure1(i)plotsthelocusofanellipticallypolarizedwaveprojectedona
transverseplaneatafixedlocationalongthedirectionofpropagation.Typicalpolarizationsare
horizontal/verticalpolarization,linear45/45polarization,andleft/rightcircularpolarization(Fig.1(ii)).A
syntheticapertureradarisusuallydesignedtotransmitandreceiveeitherhorizontallyorvertically
polarizedsignals.Forexample,theJapanEarthResourcesSatellite(JERS)1SARutilizedhorizontally
polarizedsignals.However,PALSARcantransmitandreceivebothhorizontallyorverticallypolarized
signals.Thus,acombinedpolarizationradarimagecanbeHH(horizontaltransmitting,horizontal
receiving),VV(verticaltransmitting,verticalreceiving),HV(horizontaltransmitting,verticalreceiving)or
VH(thereverseofHV).Sincethescatteringdependsonthepolarizationpropertiesofthetarget(Fig.1
(iii)),thedifferentscatteringpatternsamongpolarizationscanbeobservedfromaPALSARpolarimetric
image.

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Fig.1Polarizationofelectromagneticsignal
(ClicktoViewEnlargedImage)
Figure2presentsHH,HVandVHpolarimetricimagesandRGBcolorcompositeimagesofTomakomai,
Japan,acquiredbyPALSARusingH/VpolarizationonAugust19,2006.Thisareaconsistsofcultivated
land(upperarea),forestareas(middlearea)andthePacificOcean(lowerarea).Althoughitisdifficultto
recognizethedifferenceamongHH,HV,andVVfromthethreesinglepolarimetricimagesontheleft,the
RGBcolorcompositeimagerepresentsthescatteringpropertiesofeachareaascolordifferences.

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Fig.2.PALSARpolarimetricimage
(ClicktoViewEnlargedImage)
Figure3presentsRGBcolorcompositeimagesacquiredwith45/45linearpolarizationandleft/righthand
circularpolarization.PALSARcannotperformpolarimetricobservationusing45/45linearpolarizationand
left/righthandcircularpolarization.Thus,theseimageswerenumericallyconstructedusingobservedH/V
polarizationdata.Sincethevariationofcolorcanbeconfirmedbycomparingthethreecolorcomposite
images,theselectionofpolarizationisanimportantfactorwhenanalyzingatargetspolarimetricscattering
features.

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Fig.3.Colorimagescomposedusing45/45linearpolarizationandleft/righthandcircularpolarization.
(ClicktoViewEnlargedImage)
Figure4depictsthecultivatedarea,residentialarea,andforestareaextractedfromtheRGBcolor
compositeimagesinFigs.2and3.Thegreenregion,wherethecrosspolarizedcomponentoccurs,shifts
withthechangeofpolarization.Crosspolarizedcomponentgenerationisrelatedtovolumescatteringfrom
H/Vpolarizedsignals,doublebouncescatteringfrom45/45linearlypolarizedsignals,andsurface
scatteringfromleft/righthandcircularlypolarizedsignals.Thisinformationisusedforterrainandlanduse
classification.

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Fig.4.Polarimetricimagesofcultivated,residentialandforestareas.
(ClicktoViewEnlargedImage)
Fullypolarimetricdatacontainsmoreusefulinformationthansinglepolarimetricdata.Thisadvantageis
expectedbeutilizedinvariousremotesensingapplications.
JAXAEORC

EarthObservationResearchCenter
Copyright1997JAXAEORCAllrightsreserved.

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