Application of shape-from-shading to synthetic aperture radar

This thesis investigates the viability of applying a shape-from-shading technique to SAR imagery. A shape-from-shading algorithm is derived and tested on a single site for which both a Seasat SAR image and Digitial Elevation Model (DEM) were available. The shape-from-shading technique used in this thesis follows an approach proposed by Frankot and Chellappa for processing slant range SAR imagery. The algorithm incorporates a one-step technique for projecting non-integrable surface orientation estimates onto an integrable set in the frequency domain along with the iterative convergent shape-from-shading algorithm of Brooks and Horn. The significant issues and choices made in implementing the shape-from-shading algorithm and in preparing the SAR data and DEM are discussed. The shape-from-shading algorithm was applied to both the test site SAR image and images synthesized from the DEM. Reflectance models were derived from the SAR image and DEM. By quantitatively comparing the shape-from-shading results with the initial conditions used for the experiments, it was found that the algorithm produced substantially better results when applied to the synthesized images; however, when applied to the SAR image, there was no significant improvement over the initial conditions.Science, Faculty ofComputer Science, Department ofGraduat