GICAL: GEO-MORPHOMETRIC INVERSE CYLINDRICAL METHOD FOR RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION OF SAR IMAGES

An innovative method for radiometric calibration of SAR images affected by induced-topography distortions is proposed. The analytical formulation underlying the proposed method is rigorously obtained by using the fundamental concepts of the differential geometry of the surface. It encompasses a suitable 3D geometric description based on a trajectory-centric cylindrical coordinate system, a convenient parametrization of the illuminated terrain surface, and an inverse mapping approach. The practical effectiveness of the GICAL method is successfully demonstrated by using COSMO-SkyMed SAR data.