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A Classification Scheme for Sediments and Habitats on Exposed Intertidal Flats with Multi-Frequency Polarimetric SAR

Authors :
Wensheng Wang
Martin Gade
Kerstin Stelzer
Jörn Kohlus
Xinyu Zhao
Kun Fu
Source :
Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 3, p 360 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2021.

Abstract

We developed an extension of a previously proposed classification scheme that is based upon Freeman–Durden and Cloude–Pottier decompositions of polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, along with a Double-Bounce Eigenvalue Relative Difference (DERD) parameter, and a Random Forest (RF) classifier. The extension was done, firstly, by using dual-copolarization SAR data acquired at shorter wavelengths (C- and X-band, in addition to the previously used L-band) and, secondly, by adding indicators derived from the (polarimetric) Kennaugh elements. The performance of the newly developed classification scheme, herein abbreviated as FCDK-RF, was tested using SAR data of exposed intertidal flats. We demonstrate that the FCDK-RF scheme is capable of distinguishing between different sediment types, namely mud and sand, at high spatial accuracies. Moreover, the classification scheme shows good potential in the detection of bivalve beds on the exposed flats. Our results show that the developed FCDK-RF scheme can be applied for the mapping of sediments and habitats in the Wadden Sea on the German North Sea coast using multi-frequency and multi-polarization SAR from ALOS-2 (L-band), Radarsat-2 (C-band) and TerraSAR-X (X-band).

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20724292
Volume :
13
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Remote Sensing
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.5a8fde30c089435db79c99e4c52725d9
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13030360