Generation of large-scale digital elevation models via synthetic aperture radar interferometry

It is investigated the possibility to generate a large-scale Digital Elevation Model by applying the Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry technique and using tandem data acquired by the ERS-1/ERS-2 sensors. The presented study is mainly focused on the phase unwrapping step that represents the most critical point of the overall processing chain. In particular, it is concentrated on the unwrapping problems related to the use of a large ERS tandem data set that, in order to be unwrapped, must be partitioned. The paper discusses the inclusion of external information (even rough) of the scene topography, the application of a region growing unwrapping technique and the insertion of possible constraints on the phase to be retrieved in order to minimize the global unwrapping errors. The main goal is the generation of a digital elevation model relative to an area of 300 km by 100 km located in the southern part of Italy. Comparisons between the achieved result and a precise digital terrain model, relative to a smaller area, are also included