Analysis of spaceborne SAR monitoring capabilities for coastal areas bathymetry with COSMO-SkyMed and ALOS data

摘要

A simplified algorithm for SAR-based bathymetry is presented able to measure surface current variations generated by the bottom topography from SAR intensity images and to reduce the need for both a-priori information and human-in-the-loop operations. The algorithm is first analyzed from a theoretical point of view and an error budget model is developed to estimate the achievable depth accuracy as a function of the uncertainty in the input parameters. Preliminary experimental results are also presented in which the algorithm is applied to both COSMO-SkyMed and ALOS images of the Gulf of Naples. The results show that the technique has the potential to generate depth measures that are significantly denser than those commonly reported in the nautical charts.