Detection subsurface hyper-saline soil in Lop Nur using full-polarimetric SAR data

Abstract

This paper presents the research results about Lop Nur using full-polarimetric technology. Lop Nur Lake is one of the driest places in the world and finally lost its last drop of water in 1972. It is well known for its “Earth Ear” feature in optical remote sensing images. Likewise, “Ear” feature is shown in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images, and even larger because of penetration effect. With the penetration capability SAR is capable of detecting the subsurface targets and materials, especially in arid environment. As for SAR images, both C-band and L-band, there are two key features about Lop Nur area. One is the whole Lop Nur area is high-bright that means the backscattering is much stronger than other sites, such as Gobi, desert and so on. The other feature is the “Ear” pattern formation. polarimetric analysis about these two questions will be conducted based on past research results and field investigations.