Shoreline Mapping Using Interferometric SAR

Abstract : Coherence from repeat-pass Satellite Radar Interferometry (SRI) is explored as a means for shoreline mapping and water body masking. In temperate environments the coast may be outlined by the difference between the high coherence of the land and the absence of coherence in the sea/ocean. However, it is found that in coastal regions scene decorrelation from a variety of sources often dominate the image, making it difficult or impossible to distinguish the shoreline. In an arctic climate where scene decorrelation is reduced and the sea is frozen, the shoreline is often clearly outlined by a thin region of low coherence separating the land from frozen ice that is subjected to continuous tidal shear forces. Lakes are similarly outlined by a reduction in the coherence.