Practical Approach for Noise Reduction in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Images

Abstract

Sentinel-1, composed of a constellation of two C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B, provides a near real-time collection of ocean observation. Extra Wide Swath (EW) or Interferometric Wide Swath (IW) Modes are the main operation mode over ocean of a 250 km (160 mi) swath. However, the Level-1 Ground Range Detected (GRD) contains several types of noise such as thermal and scalloping noises. Therefore, this study focuses on reducing noise in SAR images by proposing a method based on frequency domain processing. We collected Sentinel-1 SAR ocean data including a noise over the waters around Korean Peninsula and in the Artic Sea. Finally, the method was applied to KOMPSAT-5. An automatic approach for noise reduction is introuduce through the application results.