Forest classification using extracted PolSAR features from Compact Polarimetry data

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This study investigates the ability of extracted Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture RADAR (PolSAR) features from Compact Polarimetry (CP) data for forest classification. The CP is a new mode that is recently proposed in Dual Polarimetry (DP) imaging system. It has several important advantages in comparison with Full Polarimetry (FP) mode such as reduction ability in complexity, cost, mass, data rate of a SAR system. Two strategies are employed for PolSAR feature extraction. In first strategy, the features are extracted using 2×2 covariance matrices of CP modes simulated by RADARSAT-2 C-band FP mode. In second strategy, they are extracted using 3×3 covariance matrices reconstructed from the CP modes called Pseudo Quad (PQ) modes. In each strategy, the extracted PolSAR features are combined and optimal features are selected by Genetic Algorithm (GA) and then a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is applied. Finally, the results are compared with the FP mode. Results of this study show that the PolSAR features extracted from π/4 CP mode, as well as combining the PolSAR features extracted from CP or PQ modes provide a better overall accuracy in classification of forest.