IMPROVEMENTS IN-PHASE UNWRAPPING ALGORITHMS FOR INTERFEROMETRIC SAR

Interferometric SAR is now established as a technique for providing spectacular high-resolution topographic information from aircraft or satellite platforms. A central problem in the processing of interferometric SAR data is the unambiguous relating of interferometric phase to topographic height, or phase unwrapping. This paper begins by reviewing some of the applications of SAR interferometry, and then describes various approaches to the problem of phase unwrapping and compares their performance using a set of simulation programs. A new algorithm is proposed which should overcome some of the shortcomings of present approaches. Finally, the future prospects for interferometric SAR are briefly considered.