Coherence estimation of UAS-SAR images by varying the synthetic aperture in controlled and natural scenarios

Unmanned aerial system (UAS)-based Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR) represent flexible and cost-effective solutions for environmental monitoring and are a promising technology in the field of remote sensing. One of the main applications is interferometry, which allows the detection of ground displacements with high precision. Unlike ground-based or satellite systems, flight instabilities of UAS-based SAR could severely affect image processing. Specifically, the interferometric performance strongly depends on the scan length used to process the SAR image, the so-called synthetic aperture. This paper presents an experimental study on UAS-based SAR performance in terms of image quality and temporal coherence, with a focus on the role of the synthetic aperture length.