CAN. JOUR. OF REM. SENS., RADARSAT-2 SPECIAL ISSUE, JUNE 2004 1 Ship detection and characterization using polarimetric SAR R. Touzi and F. Charbonneau and R.K. Hawkins and P.W. Vachon Canada Centre for Remote Sensing Natural Resources Canada 588 Booth Street, Ottawa Ontario, Canada K1A OY7 phone: 613-947-1247, fax: 613-947-1383, email: ridha-touzi@ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca Abstract Polarimetric information is investigated for ship detection and characterization at operational satellite SAR incidence angles (20 ◦ to 60 ◦ ). It is shown that among the conventional single channel polarizations (HH, VV, or HV), HV provides the best ship-sea contrast at incidence angles smaller than 50 ◦ . Furthermore, HH polarization permits the best ship-sea contrast at near grazing incidence angles. The polarization anisotropy is often used for optimal information extraction from polarimetric SAR data. It is shown that fully polarimetric information permits a significant improvement in the ship-sea contrast for relatively calm wind conditions, in comparison with conventional (i.e., scalar) single channel polarizations (i.e., HH, VV, or HV). For rougher sea conditions, the effectiveness of polarimetric tools may be significantly degraded. Ship characterization is also investigated using the symmetric scattering characterization method (SSCM). Identification of ship targets with significant symmetric scattering can provide a useful ship pitch angle estimate, under certain conditions. RESUM ´ E L’apport de l’information polarim´ etrique ` a la d´ etection et la caract´ erisation des bateaux est ´ etudi´ ee. Parmi les polarisations conventionnelles HH, VV, et HV, la polarisation HV permet le meilleur contraste bateau- mer aux angles d’incidence plus petits que 50 ◦ . HH donne les meilleurs r´ esultats aux incidences rasantes. L’anisotropie de polarisation a ´ et´ e utilis´ ee pour l’extraction optimale de l’information polarim´ etrique. La polarim´ etrie permet une grande am´ elioration du contraste bateau-mer dans des conditions de mer et vents relativement calmes. L’efficacit´ e de la polarim´ etrie est r´ eduite quand la mer est agit´ ee. La m´ ethode SSCM a´ et´ e test´ ee pour la caract´ erisation de bateaux. Elle a mˆ eme permis une mesure de l’angle de tangage de bateaux dans certaines conditions. under contract with TGIS Consultant currently seconded to Defence R&D Canada - Ottawa