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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

Geology Applications
Location: Red Hall
Session Chair: Marco Lavalle, NASA JPL
Session Chair: Ake Rosenqvist, solo Earth Observation (soloEO)

Presentation 3

11:50am - 12:10pm

Comparison of X, C, and L-band DEMs with Biomass P-band PolSAR Imagery in Desert Regions: A Geomorphological Analysis Approach

Mhamad El Hage¹, Laurent Polidori², Ahmed Gaber³, Laurent Ferro-Famil⁴, Ludovic Villard⁵

1: Lebanese University, Lebanon (Lebanese Republic); 2: Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Belém, Brazil; 3: Port Said University, Port said, Egypt; 4: ISAE-SUPAERO / CESBIO, Toulouse, France; 5: CNRS / CESBIO, Toulouse, France

Digital elevation modeling in desert environments presents unique challenges for radar-based remote sensing. The varying penetration capabilities of radar bands result in terrain representations that differ significantly in depth and detail. X-band signals penetrate only a few centimeters, C-band up to approximately 50 cm, and L-band between 2–3 meters. In contrast, the P-band, used by the Biomass satellite currently in orbit, can penetrate more than 5 meters—potentially reaching bedrock in areas with shallow sand cover. In areas where radar penetration is deep, advanced image processing techniques become crucial for distinguishing between the multiple subsurface layers contributing to the signal.

This study investigates the potential of P-band imagery to enhance terrain modeling in desert regions by comparing it with DEMs derived from X, C, and L-band data. The objective is to provide a preliminary assessment of P-band’s ability to represent subsurface morphology and to anticipate the performance of advanced processing techniques—such as tomography and Polarimetric Interferometric SAR (PolInSAR)—that will be applied to Biomass data for topographic extraction beneath desert surfaces.

The analysis utilizes existing data such as Copernicus (X-band) and SRTM (C-band) DEMs, alongside an InSAR-derived DEM based on ALOS PALSAR imagery over an area in Egypt. Validation is conducted using two complementary approaches:

• External validation compares DEMs against ground truth data, primarily Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) measurements, to evaluate elevation and slope accuracy compared with bedrock elevation reference.

• Internal validation assesses geomorphological consistency based on physical and statistical principles.

This experiment will be completed by 2D analysis of Biomass polarimetric features to assess to sensitivity of P-band to deeper targets.

The outcomes of this study contribute to the development of a validation framework for future bedrock DEMs generated from Biomass P-band data. This framework aims to clarify the capabilities and limitations of P-band radar for subsurface terrain modeling in arid regions, with implications for geoscientific research and environmental monitoring.