Ps Processing with Decorrelating Targets

The strength of PS SAR interferometry stays with the availability of point-like targets coherent over many years [2]. In a previous work [4] we have investigated the possibility of extending the analysis to targets showing less ideal scattering properties, through the introduction of a covariance matrix estimated from the radar images. However since it is applied to a late phase of the processing, after the stage of atmosphere phase screen (APS) estimation, it proves useless when and where the APS estimation isn’t completed successfully in the first place. This is the case when we have a number of pairs with relevant geometric or temporal decorrelation but we don’t want to trade resolution with SNR. In this work we discuss a way to deal with non ideal targets at the earliest stage of PS processing, presenting the results from a DEM estimation algorithm applyied to Mt. Etna ERS-1/2 Data.