PSCONV

Description

PSCONV converts a polarimetric SAR (POLSAR) data set between different matrix formats, required by different polarimetric SAR algorithms. The available output matrix formats depend on the input matrix type, as described in the Details section. The entire input data set is converted.

Parameters

Name	Type	Caption	Length	Value range
FILI*	String	Input polarimetric SAR image	1 - 192
FILO*	String	Output converted polarimetric SAR image	1 - 192
MATREP	String	Output matrix representation	0 - 5	s4c | S3c | c4r6c | C3r3c | t4r6c | T3r3c | k16r | K9r | s2c | c2r | c2r1c | c4r | C3r Default: C3r3c
MONITOR	String	Monitor mode	0 - 3	ON, OFF Default: ON

* Required parameter

Parameter descriptions

FILI

Specifies the name of the polarimetric SAR data set that contains the input matrix data.

The input data set must be a data set that has already been imported into the PCIDSK (.pix) format by SARINGEST, or it may be the key file name of any GDB-supported POLSAR data set in its distribution format. For more information and a complete list of supported POLSAR sensors and data products, see the SARINGEST Help.

FILO

Specifies the name of output polarimetric SAR image in the new matrix format. The output file has the same dimensions as the input, but its number of channels depends on the output matrix type.

The specified file must not already exist.

MATREP

Optionally specifies the desired matrix representation of the output polarimetric SAR data set. The available representations depend on the type of the input polarimetric SAR matrix format, which is described in the 'Details' section. The default value is C3r3c.

MONITOR

The program progress can be monitored by printing the percentage of processing completed. A system parameter, MONITOR, controls this activity.

Available options are:

• ON: Turns the monitor ON (default)
• OFF: Turns the monitor OFF (recommended if running in batch or background mode)

Details

PSCONV converts polarimetric SAR data sets between different matrix formats. PSCONV is used when a specific matrix format is required for a polarimetric algorithm that does not automatically perform the conversion.

SARINGEST can be used to determine the POLSAR matrix type of the input data set. The input file must contain a polarimetric SAR data set in one of the PCI Geomatics matrix formats. It must be a data set already imported to the PCIDSK format by SARINGEST. For more information and a complete list of supported polarimetric SAR sensors and data products, see the SARINGEST Help.

The number of channels in the output image can be derived from the output matrix type. It is equal to the number of real elements plus the number of the complex elements. For example, the C4r6c matrix is stored in 4 + 6 = 10 channels.

The output image contains polarimetric SAR-specific metadata that is necessary for further polarimetric processing. For more information and a complete list of the file-level and channel-level polarimetric metadata items, see the SARINGEST Help.

The conversions listed above change the representation of single-look data to a representation (covariance, coherence, or Kennaugh) that allows multi-look processing.

In conversions between a symmetrized and a non-symmetrized form of the same matrix type, the cross-polarization terms are duplicated. In conversions between a non-symmetrized and a symmetrized form of the same matrix type, the cross-polarization terms are averaged to produce a single common value.

Example

Convert a RADARSAT-2 product to a non-symmetrized covariance matrix.

EASI>FILO="rsat2_s4c.pix" 
EASI>MATREP="c4r6c" 
EASI>run PSCONV

Acknowledgements

PCI Geomatics gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the Canadian Space Agency through the Earth Observation Application Development Program (EOADP), contract number 9F028-034946.