Potential and limits of InSAR data for building reconstruction in
built-up areas
The automatic reconstruction of buildings for the generation of city models
is of great interest for different tasks. Three-dimensional information can
be directly obtained from both, laser (LIDAR) and radar (InSAR) measurements.
The features of both sensors are compared. The data acquisition by SAR is described,
with emphasis on the special properties of the interferometric SAR principle.
A segmentation approach for building reconstruction is proposed. The results show
that building reconstruction is possible from
InSAR, but the achievable level of detail cannot compete with LIDAR. The main source
of limitation is the inherent side-looking scene illumination of SAR, giving rise to
disturbing phenomena interfering with often large parts of the scene. Geometric
constraints for the location and size of such problem areas are derived. To identify
areas of unreliable data in SAR images of a built-up area, corresponding elevation
data are analysed. The impact of the phenomena layover, shadow and dominant scattering
at building locations is considered. For this task, a hybrid elevation reference is
required. The buildings and the surrounding ground are represented as CAD planes.
Natural objects like trees and bushes remain in the raster representation.
Stilla U, Soergel U, Thoennessen U (2003)
Potential and limits of InSAR data for building reconstruction in built-up areas.
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing,
58(1-2): 113-123
[ Stilla.de/pub ]