Geographic information system (GIS)-aided per-segment scene analysis of multitemporal spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) series with application to urban areas

It is well known that multi-temporal series of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are able to provide interesting clues about temporal evolution of some land covers. In this work, a per-segment approach based on the use of ancillary geographic information system data is proposed. The results of a test case show the effectiveness of the technique and its usefulness for quickly detecting changes from rural to urban land uses and discriminating to some extent different urban dynamics.