The Use of Multiple-Polarization Data in Foliage Penetrating (FOPEN) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications

Foliage penetrating (FOPEN) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems are capable of producing images of targets concealed under a foliage canopy. The quality and interpretability of these images, however, is generally limited by dense foliage clutter and by fundamental foliage-induced image degradation. Use of a polarimetric SAR to provide multiple polarization channels can mitigate these effects by offering target and scene information beyond that provided by a single-polarization SAR. This paper presents the results of a literature survey to investigate the use of multiple-polarization data in conjunction with FOPEN SAR applications. The effects of foliage propagation on SAR image quality are briefly summarized. Various approaches to multiple-polarizationbased FOPEN target detection are described. Although literature concerning FOPEN target recognition is scarce, the use of multiple-polarization data for in-the-clear target recognition is described. The applicability of various target detection and recognition applications for use with concealed target SAR (CTSAR) imagery is considered.