Built-Up Area Mapping Using Full and Dual Polarimetric SAR Data

Built-up area extraction from remote sensing images is essential for urban planning, disaster management and industrial development. In this study, we propose two built-up area indices for full (FP) and dual (DP) polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. The built-up area index for FP SAR data is based on the dominant scattering mechanism of the electromagnetic (EM) waves from urban targets. In contrast, the built-up area index for DP SAR data is based on the scattering reflection symmetry property. The two proposed indexes are validated with full and extracted dual pol (VV-VH) scenes of a C-band RADARSAT-2 SAR data over urban San-Francisco. They show encouraging results in detecting urban areas within a SAR resolution cell. The overall accuracy of delineating built-up area is 84.2% for FP SAR data and 79% for DP SAR data.