Analysis and Statistical Characterization of Interferometric Signals Based on the Power Spectral Density Function

Abstract

Interferometric signal analysis is applied in many fields including filtering, parameter estimation, and interferogram processing optimization. Sample applications include the determination of terrain and orbit parameters from the interferogram, interferogram phase estimation, and optimal processing of SAR interferograms. In this letter the relevance of the power spectral density to interferometric SAR mode exploration and interferogram multi-looking or filtering is discussed. The interferometric SAR modes include the known standard modes: strip-map, scansar and spotlight. For the verification of the multi-looking characteristics of SAR interferograms two frequently used filters serve as empirical reference. Based on a basic interferometric system model and a distributed scatterer model, the power spectral density description is developed.