Polarimetric information for multi–frequency SAR classification of heterogeneous coastal regions

In this study, polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR)–based classification algorithms are considered to investigate the role played by polarimetric information in the classification process of coastal areas that call for heterogeneous scattering properties. Hence, a multi–frequency PolSAR dataset collected over the study area of the Yellow River delta (China) is exploited to point out benefits and limitations that characterize well-known unsupervised classification schemes. Experimental results show the potential and the drawbacks of the exploitation of multi–frequency and multi–polarization SAR measurements for challenging coastal area classification purposes.