Polarimetric signature analysis of various crop-types using multi-source dual-frequency SAR data

The synthesized received power for every wave ellipticity (-45 degrees <= chi <= 45 degrees), and orientation (-90 degrees <= psi <= 90 degrees) angle describe the polarization signature (PS) of a target. Thus, it provides valuable information for target characterization. The PS of various crops at two frequencies (C- and L-band) is assessed in this study for various crops. It is observed that the volume scattering mechanism is mainly produced at C-band by the tall and medium height crops viz. Sugarcane, Maize and Finger Millet. The depolarized power is evident from such targets with the pedestal height (PH) (0 <= PH <= 1) values, ranging between 0.34 and 0.22. In contrast, we noticed that the surface scattering mechanism is dominant for short-height crops, such as Chilli, Turmeric and Paddy. It is also interesting to note the differential backscatter response for a few common polarization states widely varies for the two frequencies between -5.72 and -1.5 dB for Paddy, Sugarcane and Maize.