Heuristic quality coefficients for interferometric phase linking.
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| Title: | Heuristic quality coefficients for interferometric phase linking. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Heimpel, Magnus1 (AUTHOR) mheimpel@ethz.ch, Hajnsek, Irena1,2 (AUTHOR), Frey, Othmar1,3 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing. Jul2026, Vol. 237, p1-21. 21p. |
| Subjects: | Phase estimation (Electronics), Synthetic aperture radar, Fisher information, Maximum likelihood statistics |
| Abstract: | In multitemporal InSAR, phase linking (PL) refers to the estimation of a single-reference interferometric phase history for distributed scatterers (DS) from the information contained in the sample coherence matrix. Because the phase information in this matrix is typically inconsistent, DS processing needs practical reliability indicators to decide whether a pixel's PL estimate is sufficiently supported by the data for subsequent deformation analysis. For maximum-likelihood estimation, uncertainty can be quantified via Fisher-information-based covariance estimates, but no analogous, generally applicable uncertainty quantification is available for the broad range of non-ML methods. We propose three heuristic quality coefficients within a unified mathematical framework that covers common PL methods: (1) a method-specific goodness-of-fit coefficient that normalizes the achieved PL objective between a method-consistent upper bound and an empirically modeled noise floor level; (2) a closure phase coefficient computed from the sample coherence matrix in advance; and (3) an ambiguity coefficient that compares the obtained PL estimate with the best alternative in its orthogonal complement in the solution space. All coefficients are normalized to the interval [ 0 , 1 ] , where 1 indicates maximum reliability and 0 matches the behavior expected under pure noise. Simulations under exponential and seasonal decorrelation models show that the goodness-of-fit coefficient tracks the normalized absolute phase error most consistently, whereas the closure phase coefficient provides an a priori indicator for pre-screening. Experiments on a TerraSAR-X stack over Visp, Switzerland, reveal plausible spatial patterns across urban and vegetated areas and show that the ambiguity coefficient provides complementary information, especially in regions with temporally varying scattering mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 193886002 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Heuristic quality coefficients for interferometric phase linking. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Heimpel%2C+Magnus%22">Heimpel, Magnus</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> mheimpel@ethz.ch</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hajnsek%2C+Irena%22">Hajnsek, Irena</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Frey%2C+Othmar%22">Frey, Othmar</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22ISPRS+Journal+of+Photogrammetry+%26+Remote+Sensing%22">ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing</searchLink>. Jul2026, Vol. 237, p1-21. 21p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phase+estimation+%28Electronics%29%22">Phase estimation (Electronics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Synthetic+aperture+radar%22">Synthetic aperture radar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Fisher+information%22">Fisher information</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Maximum+likelihood+statistics%22">Maximum likelihood statistics</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: In multitemporal InSAR, phase linking (PL) refers to the estimation of a single-reference interferometric phase history for distributed scatterers (DS) from the information contained in the sample coherence matrix. Because the phase information in this matrix is typically inconsistent, DS processing needs practical reliability indicators to decide whether a pixel's PL estimate is sufficiently supported by the data for subsequent deformation analysis. For maximum-likelihood estimation, uncertainty can be quantified via Fisher-information-based covariance estimates, but no analogous, generally applicable uncertainty quantification is available for the broad range of non-ML methods. We propose three heuristic quality coefficients within a unified mathematical framework that covers common PL methods: (1) a method-specific goodness-of-fit coefficient that normalizes the achieved PL objective between a method-consistent upper bound and an empirically modeled noise floor level; (2) a closure phase coefficient computed from the sample coherence matrix in advance; and (3) an ambiguity coefficient that compares the obtained PL estimate with the best alternative in its orthogonal complement in the solution space. All coefficients are normalized to the interval [ 0 , 1 ] , where 1 indicates maximum reliability and 0 matches the behavior expected under pure noise. Simulations under exponential and seasonal decorrelation models show that the goodness-of-fit coefficient tracks the normalized absolute phase error most consistently, whereas the closure phase coefficient provides an a priori indicator for pre-screening. Experiments on a TerraSAR-X stack over Visp, Switzerland, reveal plausible spatial patterns across urban and vegetated areas and show that the ambiguity coefficient provides complementary information, especially in regions with temporally varying scattering mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2026.04.015 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 21 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Phase estimation (Electronics) Type: general – SubjectFull: Synthetic aperture radar Type: general – SubjectFull: Fisher information Type: general – SubjectFull: Maximum likelihood statistics Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Heuristic quality coefficients for interferometric phase linking. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Heimpel, Magnus – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Hajnsek, Irena – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Frey, Othmar IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 07 Text: Jul2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 09242716 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 237 Titles: – TitleFull: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
