Integration of 3D data in SAR mission planning and image interpretation in urban areas

State-of-the-art airborne SAR sensors provide high-resolution ground mapping data. This offers the opportunity of using this technology for the analysis of built-up areas. However, especially at building locations different SAR specific phenomena like layover, shadow, and multipath-propagation burden the interpretation of the SAR imagery even for experts. In order to consider such effects in the analysis and the geocoding of SAR data, high-resolution information about the 3D structure of the urban scene is required. Three dimensional elevation data from a GIS can be provided in different representations, like DEM (raster data) or city models (vector data). In this paper, the benefit of GIS data for the SAR mission planning and the analysis of acquired SAR data are discussed. For the first task, the SAR acquisition parameters are optimized a priori with respect to the best mapping of a local area or a certain object class. For this optimization, a large number of simulations with systematically varying aspect and viewing angles are carried out. For the second task, the 2D and 3D context information are fused with the acquired SAR imagery to support the interpretation for a change detection task. Additionally, simulated features of man-made objects are offered to the image interpreter for comparison with the data. The feasibility of different kinds of GIS data for these purposes is discussed.