Evaluation of C-band polarization diversity and polarimetry for wetland mapping

Wetlands provide important ecological benefits at both local and regional scales, thus wetland conservation and effective management are goals at many levels of government. Radar systems are a useful data source for providing information about wetlands and thus play a complementary role to optical data in wetland mapping and monitoring applications. This paper explores the use of polarization diversity and polarimetry for wetland classification and mapping using airborne CV-580 C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The results show that dual polarization with an HH polarized component is superior to single polarization but does not contain as much information for wetland classification as full polarimetry. However, polarization ratios using HH are adequate for mapping water and flooded and nonflooded vegetation for a generalized land-cover map. The implications of this research are discussed with respect to wetland classification and land cover information needs for waterfowl-productivity estimates that Ducks Unlimited Canada uses for its wetland conservation programs. These results can help end-users in selecting the appropriate SAR imaging mode when evaluating trade-offs between resolution, swath width, and polarization diversity.