In this paper a fractal based processing for the analysis of SAR images of natural surfaces is presented. Its definition is
based on a complete direct imaging model developed by the authors. The application of this innovative algorithm to
SAR images makes possible to obtain complete maps of the two key parameters of a fractal scene: the fractal dimension
and the increment standard deviation. The fractal parameters extraction is based on the estimation of the power spectral
density of the SAR amplitude image. From a theoretic point of view, the attention is focused on the retrieving procedure
of the increment standard deviation, here presented for the first time. In the last section of the paper, the application of
the introduced processing to high resolution SAR images is presented, with the relevant maps of the fractal dimension
and of the increment standard deviation.
The integrated management of water resources is a crucial problem for improving the quality of life in Sub-Saharian
Africa. Several satellites everyday acquire a huge amount of physical information that could be employed as a support
for solving agriculture and water problems. In this paper we present a project devoted to exploit the use of high
resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images for water resource management at no cost for the users. A case study is
developed in the Yatenga region, in the northern Burkina Faso, integrating hydrologic and remote sensing models in
order to improve the capacity of predicting flood and drought events. Main attention is posed here on the innovative
fractal techniques developed for the extraction of geometrical and physical parameters that can be used for calibrating
hydro-geological models.
In this paper we present the rationale and the preliminary results of a research project devoted to the appropriate and
innovative use of remotely sensed data for water management in semi-arid regions. The study area is the district of
Yatenga, northern Burkina Faso in the sub- Saharan belt of West Africa, where extreme climate conditions cause several
problems: drought, floods, soil erosion. The data comes from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) Cosmo-Skymed program,
which provides high resolution (1 meter) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Crucial peculiarity of the project is
the use of open source software for data processing and hydrological modeling. Two different hydrological models have
been selected. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to be employed for the design of appropriate water
management plans and soil erosion mitigation measures. The Width Function Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (WFIUHD)
model can to employed for the prevision of flood events and therefore for the planning of risk mitigation. The paper
shows the preliminary results of the project obtained by the processing of the first available high resolution SAR data. In
particular, the first step is the realization of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). GIS tools have been set up for the DEMprocessing
in order to derive the needed hydro-morphological basin attributes to support the geo-morphological rainfall-
runoff (WFIUHD) modeling.
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