Orthorectifying
RADARSAT-2
Quick Guide
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Using this Guide
Data for the RADARSAT-2 tutorial has been downloaded from the RADARSAT-2
website.
http://www.radarsat2.info/product/demo_set/.
Table of Contents
SAR PROCESSING IN GEOMATICA ORTHOENGINE .......................................................... 1
THE SAR SPECIFIC MODEL ............................................................................................................. 1
RADARSAT-2 SUPPORT IN GEOMATICA ................................................................................. 2
ABOUT RADARSAT–2 ......................................................................................................................... 2
RADARSAT–2 APPLICATIONS....................................................................................................... 3
SETTING UP A RADARSAT-2 PROJECT IN ORTHOENGINE ........................................... 3
CREATING THE PROJECT .......................................................................................................................... 3
STARTING ORTHOENGINE ON WINDOWS SYSTEMS .............................................................................. 3
CREATING A PROJECT AND IMPORTING RADAR DATA ........................................................................... 4
SETTING THE OUTPUT PROJECTION PARAMETERS ................................................................................. 5
SETTING THE GCP PROJECTION ............................................................................................................. 5
DATA INPUT .............................................................................................................................................. 5
SAVING THE PROJECT............................................................................................................................... 7
ORTHORECTIFYING RADARSAT-2 DATA ................................................................................ 7
PREPARING FOR ORTHORECTIFICATION.................................................................................................. 7
ORTHORECTIFYING THE RADARSAT-2 SCENES ............................................................... 10
VIEWING THE ORTHORECTIFIED IMAGE IN ORTHOENGINE ................................................................. 10
FURTHER PROCESSING .................................................................................................................. 11
SAR Processing In Geomatica OrthoEngine
Because of its all-weather and all-day monitoring capabilities, Radar remote sensing
offers a number of advantages for Earth-surface and feature observation. Radar
sensors can see through cloud and rain as well as at night, allowing for all-weather
remote observation at any time. Some features, such as ice, ocean waves, and
geological structures can often be seen better in radar images than in optical images.
Over the years, radar remote sensing has provided comprehensive, timely, and
accurate information about the Earths surface. Due to the unique nature of radar
systems, specific tools are required to extract useable information from the data. The
comprehensive radar functions in Geomatica allow you to fully exploit the power of
radar for use in a wide variety of applications.
The SAR Specific Model
For orthorectification of SAR data, Geomatica uses the RADAR Specific Model which
uses the additional parameters in the orbit data of SAR data to reduce the amount of
ground control points (GCPs) required. The extra parameters maintain the positional
accuracy and high levels of detail in the model, while concurrently reducing the
number of GCPs required to very few, if any at all. This math model does not use tie
points since each scene is computed using the GCPs of that scene only. If you have
more than eight well distributed GCPs, both Toutin's Model and the SAR Specific
Model will give you similar results.
The following table describes sensor and product levels supported by the SAR
Specific Model.
Sensor Supported Products
ALOS PALSAR L1.5 SGF
L4.1 SGP
L4.2 SCN
Envisat ASAR ASA_IMM_1P: Level 1b Image Mode Medium Resolution
ASA_IMS_1P: Level 1b Image Mode SLC
ASA_IMP_1P: Level 1b Image Mode PRI
ASA_APM_1P: Level 1b Alternating Polarization Mode Medium
Resolution
ASA_APS_1P: Level 1b Alternating Polarization Mode SLC
ASA_APP_1P: Level 1b Alternating Polarization Mode PRI
ASA_WSM_1P: Level 1b Wide Swath Mode Medium Resolution
RADARSAT SLC : Single Look Complex
SGF : SAR georeferenced Fine Resolution
SGX : SAR georeferenced Extra-Fine Resolution
SSG : SAR Systematic Geocorrected
SPG : SAR Precision Geocorrected
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
1
ERS Georeferenced for images produced in Canada
PRI level for images produced by ESA
COSMO - Level 1A (SCS) : Single Look Complex Slant Range
SkyMed Level 1B (MGD) : Detected Ground Multi-Look
TerraSAR-X Level 1b data
- GEC
- EEC
- MGD
- SSC
RADARSAT-2 Support in Geomatica
Geomatica v10.2 supports all type of RADARSAT-2 products. Below is a table
showing the RADARSAT-2 products. The bullet icon indicates all of the RADARSAT-2
products that are distributed by MDA.
Single Path Precision
Path Map
Look Image Map
Beam Mode Image Image
Complex Plus Image
(SLC) (SGF) (SGX) (SSG) (SPG)
Ultra-Fine ● ● ● ● ●
Multi-Look Fine ● ● ● ●
Fine ● ● ● ● ●
Standard ● ● ● ● ●
Wide ● ● ● ● ●
ScanSAR
●
Narrow
ScanSAR Wide ●
Extended High ● ● ● ● ●
Fine Quad-Pol ● ● ● ●
Standard
● ● ● ●
Quad-Pol
About RADARSAT–2
The RADARSAT-2 Radar will acquire data at four different polarizations: horizontal
(HH), vertical (VV) and cross (HV & VH), over a range of resolutions ranging
from 100 to three meters. RADARSAT-2 will offer the following new modes:
selectable linear polarization;
selectable dual polarization;
quad polarimetric formats;
higher resolution
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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The full vectorial polarization information that RADARSAT-2 retrieves enables
improved imagery of the physical properties of targets illuminated by the radar. For
more information on RADARSAT-2, please see
http://ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/radar/spaceborne/radarsat2/index_e.php.
RADARSAT–2 Applications
There are numerous applications for the advanced capabilities of RADARSAT-2 data.
Examples include the following:
Disaster management Monitoring wetlands and snow cover
Forestry Ship detection
Geology Sea ice discrimination
Hydrology Agricultural applications
Marine surveillance
Cartography
Detection and classification of
man-made objects
Oil spill detection and
monitoring
For more information on the RADARSAT-2 applications, please see
http://www.radarsat2.info/application/index.asp.
Setting up a RADARSAT-2 Project in
OrthoEngine
This example gives you the opportunity to work with Geomatica OrthoEngine to
perform orthorectification of RADARSAT-2 data. The sample RADARSAT-2 dataset for
this tutorial can be downloaded from http://www.radarsat2.info/product/demo_set/.
Creating the Project
The first step in correcting the data is to create a project within OrthoEngine. The
project file that you create contains information about the images being corrected, as
well as projection information and information regarding the mathematical model
used to correct the data. The three main steps in creating a project include the
following:
1. Specifying the math model;
2. Setting the projection;
3. Importing the imagery
The following set of instructions outline the steps for creating a project specific to
working with RADARSAT-2 data. You will observe that this workflow is much the
same for other supported SAR sensors such as PALSAR and ASAR.
Starting OrthoEngine on Windows Systems
In Windows, begin by starting Geomatica by clicking on Start | Program Files |
PCI Geomatics | Geomatica v10.2 | OrthoEngine. Alternatively, you can click on
the OrthoEngine icon on the main Geomatica toolbar. The main OrthoEngine toolbar
opens.
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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Creating a Project and Importing Radar Data
OrthoEngine works on a project-by-project basis. Therefore, you need to open an
existing project or create a new project before you gain access to OrthoEngine
functions. In this lesson, you will create a new RADARSAT-2 project.
To create a new project:
1. Click New on the File menu. The Project Information dialog opens.
2. Click Browse. The File to Create dialog opens.
3. Choose a directory in which to store your RADARSAT-2 OrthoEngine project.
4. Enter the name RADARSAT-2.prj in the File name field.
5. Click Open. The File to Create dialog closes. The path and filename appear in
the File name field in the Project Information dialog.
6. Enter the name RADARSAT2 Tutorial Project in the Name field.
7. In the Description field, type RADARSAT2 Ortho Project.
8. In the Math Modeling Method panel, select ‘Radar Satellite Modeling'.
9. In the Options panel, select ‘Radar Specific Model’. Note that if you have 8 or
more GCPs, you can setup your project using Toutin’s Model.
10. Click OK. The Project Information dialog closes. The Set Projection dialog
opens.
Updated: 7/23/2009
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Setting the Output Projection Parameters
The projection information needs to be set at the beginning of each project. In the
Set Projection dialog, enter the projection information for the project.
1. Select UTM from the drop-down menu in the Output Projection panel. The
UTM Zones dialog opens.
2. Click the Earth Model button and select D000 as the datum from the datum
tab.
3. Click Accept. The UTM Zones dialog opens.
4. Click to select Zone 10 and click Accept.
5. Click to select Northern Hemisphere.
6. Click Accept.
7. For the Output Pixel Spacing, type 5.0.
8. For the Output Line Spacing, type 5.0. The value of 5.0 meters represents the
desired resolution of the ortho images mosaic file.
Setting the GCP Projection
1. Click the Set GCP Projection based on Output Projection button. The GCP
Projection adopts the same settings used for the Output Projection.
2. Click OK. The Set Projection dialog closes.
Data Input
You do not need to import RADARSAT-2 data into a PIX file using ‘Read from CD-
ROM’ (or equivalent CDSAR program) as it is supported directly in our Generic
Database Library (GDB) Image can be accessed directly using ‘Product.XML’ file at
Ortho Generation stage.
To input the images to the current project:
The dataset below shows a RADARSAT-2 dataset that was downloaded from
http://www.radarsat2.info/product/demo_set/. The Vancouver Dataset is the one
that will be used for this particular tutorial. This dataset contains all of the beam
modes available from RADARSAT-2: dual polarized, high resolution, single polarized
and ultra-fine mode. The file that will be used for viewing and orthorectifying in this
tutorial will be product.xml. The *.tif files that are provided with the dataset are
referenced by the product.xml file. The file used for this tutorial is
Updated: 7/23/2009
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Vancouver_R2_Standard7_HH_HV_SGF, and can be found in the Vancouver directory
at the link above.
1. From the Processing Step menu on the OrthoEngine toolbar, select ‘Ortho
Generation’.
2. On the Ortho Generation toolbar, click Open Image button. The Open Image
dialog box opens.
3. Click New Image in the Open Image dialog. A File Selector dialog opens.
4. Browse to the folder containing your RAW RADARSAT-2 data.
5. Select and open product.xml file (if you cannot see the *.xml-type files, select
*.xml from the “Files of Type” dropdown in the File Selector dialog).
6. System will prompt you for calibration type: Sigma nought, Beta nought,
Gamma, None. The calibration type will be listed in the Ortho Production
panel in the "uncorrected Image" section and it is the type of ortho image
that will be produced. For example, you can add the same image twice in the
ortho production panel - once for beta nought, once for sigma nought and two
orthos will be produced.
7. After this step, system will prompt you to create Overviews. Click Yes.
8. References to the imported file will appear in the Open Image dialog
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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Saving the Project
1. Click File on the main OrthoEngine toolbar.
2. Click Save in the file menu.
The project file RADARSAT2 is saved in the specified folder. In addition, OrthoEngine
automatically creates a backup file every 10 minutes. The backup file uses the same
file name as the project file, but with a .bk extension.
Tip
If you need to revert to the backup file, rename the backup file so that it uses the
.prj extension. OrthoEngine can load this project file as it would any other *.prj file.
Orthorectifying RADARSAT-2 Data
When working with the Radar Specific Model, the inclusion of ground control points
(GCPs) is optional. Without any GCPs, the model is calculated based on the satellite’s
positioning information. Further addition of few GCPs, although not necessary, will
refine the model, and as a result, improve its accuracy. This means, however, that
as long as a DEM is included in your project (either by importing or extracting a DEM
from stereo radar images), the images can still be orthorectified without any GCPs.
Preparing for Orthorectification
The OrthoImage Production dialog allows you to set up and schedule the images for
orthorectification. Several images can be selected and processed in batch mode.
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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To setup the images:
1. On the Ortho Generation toolbar, click Schedule Ortho Generation. The Ortho
Image Production dialog appears.
2. Select image(s) from the Available Image list.
3. Click the arrow to move all the images to the Images to Process list.
4. By default, the ortho image will be named ofilename.pix. At this time, you can
enter a different filename for the output image in the Corrected Image panel.
Selecting the Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
1. In the DEM panel, click Browse.
2. Locate the folder containing the DEM that you will use for Orthorectification
and select it. If you do not have a DEM, you can use the demworld.pix file,
located in the Geomatica etc directory.
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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3. Click Open.
4. The Database Channels dialog opens.
5. Select the layer containing the DEM.
Note that you should specify a value for Background Elevation. If a background
elevation value exists for your DEM, enter it in the area provided. If you are
unaware of the background elevation value for the DEM, click the DEM Info
button. The information that is reported when you click this button will be the
three lowest elevation values. Typically the lowest elevation value is used as the
background elevation. If you do not have a DEM, you can specify the elevation
scale and offset in the DEM panel.
6. Click the DEM Info button. The DEM information will be reported as below.
Enter the lowest elevation value for the Background Elevation.
7. Select the DEM in the Available Layers list, and click OK.
Updated: 7/23/2009
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by PCI Geomatics. PCI Geomatics
assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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Orthorectifying the RADARSAT-2 Scenes
To generate the ortho images:
1. At the bottom of the Ortho Image Production dialog, click Generate Orthos.
The Ortho Production Progress Monitor opens, and shows the status of the
orthorectification process for each image.
2. After all of the orthos are generated, click the Close button at the bottom of
the progress monitor.
The message Ortho done will appear beside each image in the Available Images
panel, indicating that the original images are now orthorectified.
Note
This is a good time to save your project file.
Viewing the orthorectified image in OrthoEngine
1. From the OrthoEngine File menu, select Image View. A Database File
Selection window opens.
2. From the Radar_Data folder, select the output image.
3. Click Open.
A viewer opens, displaying the orthorectified image.
Updated: 7/23/2009
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assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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Further Processing
There are a number of additional SAR processing workflows available in OrthoEngine.
For the orthorectification of the RADARSAT-2 scene used above, the inclusion of
additional ground control points (GCPs) could have resulted in a more accurate
output. The file product.xml distributed by RADARSAT-2 already contains some
GCPs, however if the user manually collects at least eight GCPs, the GCPs included
with the product.xml file will be overwritten. To create GCPs in OrthoEngine, select
the GCP processing step on the OrthoEngine toolbar, and click the Collect GCPs
Manually icon. Note that the collection of GCPs must be carried out after importing
the imagery.
Updated: 7/23/2009
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by PCI Geomatics. PCI Geomatics
assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Copyright © 2006 PCI Geomatics inc. All rights reserved.
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