Las técnicas de Interferometría Diferencial se basan en la combinación de varias imágenes SAR con distinta separación temporal y permiten la recuperación de las componentes lineales y no-lineales del proceso de deformación ocurrida en el entorno de interés durante el entero periodo de observación. Condición imprescindible para una correcta estimación de los fenómenos geodéticos es la elevada estabilidad de la plataforma que embarca el sensor SAR. Por esta razón, a nivel operativo se utilizan datos SAR satelitales.El objetivo de la Polarimetría SAR es describir el entorno de interés analizando las propiedades de la señal que éste dispersa cuando se utilizan diferentes combinaciones de polarización de las antenas transmisora y receptora, definidas canales polarimétricos. La polarimetría interferométrica SAR junta la capacidad de la polarimetría de separar mecanismos de dispersión independientes con la sensibilidad de la Interferometría a la altura de los correspondientes centros de fase, y permite describir la distribución volumétrica de los dispersores dentro de la escena observada. Debido a la falta de conjuntos de datos polarimétricos SAR satelitales que cubran tramos temporales suficientemente largos, hay aún un gran interés en las mejoras que la polarimetría podría aportar a técnicas ya consolidadas como las de Interferometría Diferencial.La actividad de investigación que se presentará en esta tesis doctoral abarca, por primera vez conjuntamente, las dos áreas de la Polarimetría SAR y de la Interferometría Diferencial utilizando el sensor radar terrestre de corto alcance (gbSAR) desarrollado por la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunyua (UPC). El trabajo constará de dos bloques principales.El primer bloque describirá las técnicas que se han desarrollado para convertir el sistema UPC gbSAR en un instrumento operativo y simplificar la utilización de sus adquisiciones, incluyendo la formulación matemática de los principios de funcionamiento del sistema, la cadena de procesado de los raw data y su calibración polarimétrica, los procedimientos de georeferenciación, y las técnicas de compensación de los artefactos atmosféricos presentes en sus medidas diferenciales.La segunda parte se ocupará de demostrar los beneficios que los datos SAR polarimétricos ofrecen respecto a la medición de un único canal polarimétrico para aplicaciones diferenciales. A fin de llevar a cabo esta tarea, se analizarán los datos gbSAR adquiridos durante una campaña de medidas de un año realizada en el pueblo de Sallent, en Cataluña, afectado por un fenómeno de subsidencia. En esta parte se analizarán tres temas principales. El primero es el comportamiento no estacionario en tiempo del entorno urbano bajo la geometría de observación del sensor terrestre. Se estudiarán en detalle los efectos de su inestabilidad y se propondrá una técnica de filtrado novedosa entallada a las propiedades de los blancos deterministas con el fin de preservar la información de la fase diferencial. El segundo tema abarca el problema de los efectos de troposfera en datos diferenciales con separación temporal superior al mes y de su separación de las variaciones de fase inducidas por el proceso de deformación. El tercer tema es la utilización de toda la información polarimétrica diferencial. Con fin de superar las limitaciones propias de las técnicas DInSAR clásicas, se propondrá un nuevo modelo polarimétrico de dispersión y se demostrarán las ventajas de la nueva formulación enseñando la mejor estimación del proceso de subsidencia en Sallent. En la parte final de este apartado se explorará también el potencial de las técnicas polarimétricas de optimización de la coherencia para aplicaciones diferenciales. / Differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) deals with the combination of multi-temporal SAR images for the estimation of the linear and non-linear components of the deformation process within an area of interest during the whole observation period. A high stability of the platform is required for a reliable estimation of the geodetic phenomena. Accordingly, space-borne SAR images are operatively employed for DInSAR estimation, air-borne DInSAR still constituting a challenging research issue. SARPolarimetry aims at charactering the illuminated area through the analysis of its response under different combinations of transmitting and receiving antennas polarization, called polarimetric channels. The Polarimetric SAR Interferometry joins the capability of Polarimetry to separate independent scattering mechanisms and the sensitivity of Interferometry to the corresponding phase centers' elevation, making it possible to describe the volumetric distribution of the scatterers within the observed area. Owing to the lack of long-time collections of polarimetric space-borne SAR data, the studies carried out in this research field have been mainly based on air-borne acquisitions. Yet, there is a great expectation for the improvements that polarimetry may bring to assessed single-polarization techniques such as the DinSAR.The research described in this PhD dissertation fills for the first time the gap between SAR Polarimetry and SAR Differential Interferometry through the employment of an X-band ground-based SAR (gbSAR) sensor developed by the Remote Sensing Lab of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC).The work is divided into two main blocks. The first part deals with the algorithms that have been developed to make the UPC system operative and its acquisitions easy to use. Summarily, they include the mathematical formulation of the sensor's working principles, the raw data processing chain and the polarimetric calibration method, the geocoding procedures, and the techniques compensating for the atmospheric artefacts affecting gbSAR zero-baseline acquisitions.The second part is concerned with demonstrating the benefits that polarimetric SAR measurements provide with respect to single-polarization data for differential applications. In order to cope with this task, the data sets acquired during a one-year measurement campaign carried out in the village of Sallent, northeastern Spain, are analyzed. The experiment was focused on monitoring the subsidence phenomenon affecting a district of the village with the UPC gbSAR sensor. Three main issues are here argued. The first one is the time non-stationary behaviors characterizing the urban environment at X-band in the gbSAR observation geometry. Their effects are analyzed in detail and a novel non-stationary filtering technique tailored to deterministic scatterers' properties is introduced to preserve the differential phase information. The second one is the compensation of the troposphere changes in long-time span gbSAR differential interferograms. A new technique is worked out to effectively separate the differential phase variations due to the atmospheric artefacts from the deformation components. The third one is the use of the whole polarimetric differential information. A novel polarimetric differential scattering model is put forward to relax the constraints of an advanced DInSAR technique, the Coherent Pixel Technique, and to propose an innovative polarimetric approach. The advantages offered by Polarimetric DInSAR are demonstrated in terms of quality of the deformation-rate map describing the subsidence phenomenon in Sallent. In the end, the potentials of coherence-optimization techniques for the further improvement of the deformation process estimation are stressed.

To date only very few bistatic measurements (airborne or in controlled laboratories) have been reported. Therefore most of the current remote sensing methods are still focused on monostatic (backscatter) measurements. These methods, based on theoretical, empirical or semi-empirical models, enable the estimation of soil roughness and the soil humidity (dielectric constant). For the bistatic case only theoretical methods have been developed and tested with monostatic data. Hence, there still remains a vital need to gain of experience and knowledge about bistatic methods and data. The main purpose of this thesis is to estimate the soil moisture and the soil roughness by using full polarimetric bistatic measurements. In the experimental part, bistatic X-band measurements, which have been recorded in the Bistatic Measurement Facility (BMF) at the DLR Oberpfaffenhofen, Microwaves and Radar Institute, will be presented. The bistatic measurement sets are composed of soils with different statistical roughness and different moistures controlled by a TDR (Time Domain Reflectivity) system. The BMF has been calibrated using the Isolated Antenna Calibration Technique (IACT). The validation of the calibration was achieved by measuring the reflectivity of fresh water. In the second part, bistatic surface scattering analyses of the calibrated data set were discussed. Then, the specular algorithm was used to estimate the soil moisture of two surface roughnesses (rough and smooth) has been reported. A new technique using the coherent term of the Integral Equation Method (IEM) to estimate the soil roughness was presented. Also, the sensitivity of phase and reflectivity with regard to moisture variation in the specular direction was evaluated. Finally, the first results and validations of bistatic radar polarimetry for the specular case of surface scattering have been introduced. / Aktuell sind nur sehr wenige Messungen mit bistatischem Radar durchgeführt worden, sei es von Flugzeuggetragenen Systemen oder durch spezielle Aufbauten im Labor. Deshalb basieren die meisten der bekannten Methoden zur Fernerkundung mit Radar auf monostatis-chen Messungen der Rückstreuung des Radarsignals. Diese Methoden, die auf theoretischen, empirischen oder halb-empirischen Modellen basieren, ermöglichen die Schätzung der Oberfächenrauhigkeit und die Bodenfeuchtigkeit (Dielektrizitätskonstante). Im bistatischen Fall wurden bisher nur theoretische Modelle entworfen, die mittels monostatischer Messungen getestet wurden. Aus diesem Grund ist es von großer Bedeutung, Erfahrung und Wissen über die physikalischen Effekte in bistatischen Konfigurationen zu sammeln. Das Hauptziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, anhand vollpolarimetrischer, bistatischer Radarmessungen die Oberfächenrauhigkeit und Bodenfeuchtigkeit zu bestimmen. Im experimentellen Teil der Arbeit werden die Ergebnisse bistatischer Messungen präsentiert, die in der Bistatic Measurement Facility (BMF) des DLR Oberpfaffenhofen aufgenommen wurden. Die Datensätze umfassen Messungen von Böden unterschiedlicher statistischer Rauhigkeit und Feuchtigkeit, die mittels eines Time Domain Reflectivity (TDR) Systems bestimmt werden. Zur Kalibration des BMF wurde die Isolated Antenna Calibration Technique (IACT) verwendet und anhand der Messung der Reflektivität von Wasser überprüft. Im zweiten Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit wird anhand der kalibrierten Daten eine Analyse der Oberflächenstreuung in bistatischen Konfigurationen vorgenommen. Im Anschluss daran wird mittels des Specular Algorithm eine Schätzung der Bodenfeuchte zweier Proben unter- schiedlicher Rauhigkeit (rau und fein) durchgeführt. Ein neues Verfahren zur Schätzung der Oberfächenrauhigkeit, das auf dem kohärenten Term der Integral Equation Method (IEM) basiert, wurde eingeführt. Daneben wird die Empfindlichkeit der Phase sowie der Reflektivität des vorwärtsgestreuten Signals gegenüber Veränderungen der Bodenfeuchtigkeit analysiert. Schließlich werden erste Ergebnisse und Validierungen bistatischer Radarpolarimetrie für den Fall der Vorwärtsstreuung präsentiert.

No description available.

In this study a calibration concept for a multi-polarimetric weather radar is developed. Several common calibration techniques are analysed, but many are insufficient due to the non-reciprocal behaviour of the employed radar. Hence, an electronic calibration device was developed, which was designed for fast polarization determination of any polarization (including elliptical ones). The non-reciprocal behaviour was overcome by splitting receive and transmit calibration, which virtually uses the radar as a communication system. Beside the calibration a new and exible signal processing system was implemented on that radar which allows interleaved measurements using several polarimetric modes. This capability was used to analyse the STAR (hybrid basis with linear 45° transmit and horizontal/vertical receive) mode and the alternating H/V mode with respect to depolarization. Although it is known that depolarization causes errors in STAR mode, it is used in most commercial weather radars. / In dieser Arbeit wird ein Kalibrierkonzept für ein Multipolarisation-Radar entwickelt. Dazu wurden verschiedene gebräuchliche Techniken untersucht. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass dieses Verfahren für das untersuchte nichtreziproke Radar unzureichend sind. Deshalb wurde ein elektronisches Kalibriergerät entwickelt, welches speziell der schnellen Messung von beliebigen Polarisationen - einschließlich Elliptischer - dient. Das nichtreziproke Verhalten wurde durch die Aufteilung in eine Sende- und eine Empfangskalibrierung umgangen, wodurch das Radar praktisch als Kommunikationssystem verwendet wird. Des Weiteren wurde eine neue, fexible Signalverarbeitung an dem Radar entwickelt, welches gemischte Messungen mit mehreren Polarisationsmoden erlaubt. Diese neuartige Möglichkeit wurde benutzt um den STAR-Modus, welches eine hybride Polarisationsbasis (linear 45° senden, horizontal/vertikal empfangen) benutzt, mit dem alternierende H/V-Modus zu vergleichen. Dabei wurde speziell das Verhalten des STAR-Modus im Hinblick auf Depolarisation untersucht, da dies bekanntermaßen zu Fehlern in den Messgrößenführen kann. Dies ist von besonderem Interesse, da der STAR-Modus in den meisten kommerziellen Wetterradarsystemen eingesetzt wird.

The study of the nucleon structure has been a major research focus in fundamental physics in the past decades and still is the main research line of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). For this purpose and to obtain statistically meaningful results, a highly efficient polarized target is essential. This means high polarization and high relative density of polarized material. This dissertation presents the principles and usage procedures of a Hydrogen Deuteride (HD) target that presents both such characteristics. Although the HD target has been shown to work successfully under a high intensity photon beam, it remained to be seen if the target could stand an electron beam of reasonably high current (nA). In this perspective, the HD target was tested for the first time in its "frozen spin" mode under an electron beam during the g14 experiment in the Jefferson Lab's Hall B in 2012. Two methods of polarimetry are also discussed in this dissertation : one with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of this HD target during the electron beam tests, and another with the elastic scattering of electrons off a polarized target by using data taken on helium-3 during the E97-110 experiment that occurred in Jefferson Lab's Hall A in 2003.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-04-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:21:13Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 sartori_lr_dr_prud.pdf: 4148637 bytes, checksum: 5616600e595cbbe65fef21b03cd5309c (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O propósito deste trabalho foi avaliar o potencial dos dados PALSAR polarimétricos para discriminar e mapear espécies de macrófitas (vegetação aquática) de uma área alagável da Amazônia, a planície de inundação do Lago Grande de Monte Alegre, no estado do Pará. A coleta de dados foi realizada quase simultaneamente à aquisição dos dados de radar. Três principais espécies de macrófitas foram encontradas na área: Paspalum repens (PR), Hymenachne amplexicaulis (HA) e Paspalum elephantipes (PE). Variáveis morfológicas foram medidas em campo e usadas para derivar outras variáveis tais como a biomassa. Atributos foram gerados a partir da matriz de covariância [C] extraída da imagem ALOS/PALSAR em modo SLC (single look complex). Os atributos polarimétricos foram analisados para as três espécies e identificados aqueles capazes de discriminar as espécies. Foram aplicadas as seguintes abordagens de classificação: baseada em regras, baseada em modelos de decomposição (Decomposições de Freeman-Durden e Cloude-Pottier), baseada em estatística (Classificação supervisionada baseada na distância Wishart) e híbrida (Classificador Wishart com classes de entrada baseadas na decomposição de Cloude-Pottier). Finalmente, a variável morfológica “volume da haste” foi modelada por regressão múltipla em função de alguns atributos polarimétricos. Os resultados sugerem que a imagem polarimétrica banda L possui potencial para discriminar as espécies de macrófitas, sendo os principais atributos para isso sigma zero HH ( ), sigma zero HV ( ) e sigma zero VV ( ), índice de estrutura da copa... / The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential of fully polarimetric PALSAR data to discriminate and map macrophyte species in the Amazon floodplain, more specifically in the Monte Alegre Lake, in the state of Pará, Brazil. Fieldwork was carried out almost simultaneously to the radar acquisition. Three main species were found in the study area: Paspalum repens (PR), Hymenachne amplexicaulis (HA) and Paspalum elephantipes (PE). Macrophyte morphological variables were measured on the field and used to derive others variables, like the biomass. Attributes were calculated from the covariance matrix [C] derived from the SLC (single look complex) data. The polarimetric attributes were analyzed for the three species and it was identified that ones capable of discriminating them. The following classification approaches were applied: a rule-based classification, model-based classifications (Freeman-Durden and Cloude-Pottier), a statistical-based classification (supervised classification using Wishart distance measure) and a hybrid classification (Wishart classifier with the input classes based on the H/a plane). Finally, the morphological variable “stem volume” was modeled using multiple regression. The findings suggest that the fully polarimetric image has potential for discriminating plant species, being the main attributes sigma-nought HH ( ), sigma-nought HV ( ) and sigma-nought VV ( ), canopy structure index ( ), HH-VV polarimetric coherence ( ), helicity of the third scattering mechanism (τ ), orientation angle of the first scattering mechanism ( ) and scattering type phase of the first mechanism ( ); among the different classifications, only the supervised (Wishart) and the rule-based discriminated the species, with overall accuracy of 75,04% and 87,18%, respectively; the stem volume was modeled using the following attributes: biomass index ( ), volumetric scattering ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Resumo: O propósito deste trabalho foi avaliar o potencial dos dados PALSAR polarimétricos para discriminar e mapear espécies de macrófitas (vegetação aquática) de uma área alagável da Amazônia, a planície de inundação do Lago Grande de Monte Alegre, no estado do Pará. A coleta de dados foi realizada quase simultaneamente à aquisição dos dados de radar. Três principais espécies de macrófitas foram encontradas na área: Paspalum repens (PR), Hymenachne amplexicaulis (HA) e Paspalum elephantipes (PE). Variáveis morfológicas foram medidas em campo e usadas para derivar outras variáveis tais como a biomassa. Atributos foram gerados a partir da matriz de covariância [C] extraída da imagem ALOS/PALSAR em modo SLC (single look complex). Os atributos polarimétricos foram analisados para as três espécies e identificados aqueles capazes de discriminar as espécies. Foram aplicadas as seguintes abordagens de classificação: baseada em regras, baseada em modelos de decomposição (Decomposições de Freeman-Durden e Cloude-Pottier), baseada em estatística (Classificação supervisionada baseada na distância Wishart) e híbrida (Classificador Wishart com classes de entrada baseadas na decomposição de Cloude-Pottier). Finalmente, a variável morfológica "volume da haste" foi modelada por regressão múltipla em função de alguns atributos polarimétricos. Os resultados sugerem que a imagem polarimétrica banda L possui potencial para discriminar as espécies de macrófitas, sendo os principais atributos para isso sigma zero HH ( ), sigma zero HV ( ) e sigma zero VV ( ), índice de estrutura da copa ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential of fully polarimetric PALSAR data to discriminate and map macrophyte species in the Amazon floodplain, more specifically in the Monte Alegre Lake, in the state of Pará, Brazil. Fieldwork was carried out almost simultaneously to the radar acquisition. Three main species were found in the study area: Paspalum repens (PR), Hymenachne amplexicaulis (HA) and Paspalum elephantipes (PE). Macrophyte morphological variables were measured on the field and used to derive others variables, like the biomass. Attributes were calculated from the covariance matrix [C] derived from the SLC (single look complex) data. The polarimetric attributes were analyzed for the three species and it was identified that ones capable of discriminating them. The following classification approaches were applied: a rule-based classification, model-based classifications (Freeman-Durden and Cloude-Pottier), a statistical-based classification (supervised classification using Wishart distance measure) and a hybrid classification (Wishart classifier with the input classes based on the H/a plane). Finally, the morphological variable "stem volume" was modeled using multiple regression. The findings suggest that the fully polarimetric image has potential for discriminating plant species, being the main attributes sigma-nought HH ( ), sigma-nought HV ( ) and sigma-nought VV ( ), canopy structure index ( ), HH-VV polarimetric coherence ( ), helicity of the third scattering mechanism (τ ), orientation angle of the first scattering mechanism ( ) and scattering type phase of the first mechanism ( ); among the different classifications, only the supervised (Wishart) and the rule-based discriminated the species, with overall accuracy of 75,04% and 87,18%, respectively; the stem volume was modeled using the following attributes: biomass index ( ), volumetric scattering ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Nilton Nobuhiro Imai / Coorientador: José Cláudio Mura / Banca: Evlyn Marcia Leão de Moraes Novo / Banca: Thiago Sanna Freire Silva / Banca: João Roberto dos Santos / Banca: Vilma Mayumi Tachibana / Doutor

Neste trabalho apresentamos uma nova técnica para a medida da rotação da polarização da luz por uma substância que possui atividade óptica. O sistema utiliza um LED, dois polarizadores, um prisma de vidro semicilíndrico, uma cubeta, uma CCD e um computador para análise de dados. Luz proveniente do LED passa pelo primeiro polarizador, cujo eixo de transmissão se encontra a 45°, e incide no prisma pelo lado semicilíndrico, ocorrendo reflexão na sua base, num ângulo próximo do ângulo crítico. Devido ao tamanho finito do feixe e o formato curvo da superfície do prisma, vários ângulos de incidência são observados na base da lente semicilíndrica. A luz refletida passa então pela cubeta e depois por um analisador, cujo eixo se encontra paralelo ao primeiro polarizador, e então o sinal é captado pela CCD. De forma alternativa, a cubeta pode ser posicionada após o primeiro polarizador, antes do prisma. Quando a cubeta é preenchida com água, observa-se na CCD uma interferência destrutiva exatamente no ângulo crítico caracterizado por um mínimo de intensidade nesse ângulo. Se uma substância opticamente ativa é utilizada para preencher a cubeta, a posição desse mínimo é alterada dependendo do ângulo de rotação da polarização imposto pela substância. Uma calibração é necessária e pode ser feita utilizando-se soluções de concentração conhecida de sacarose ou frutose, por exemplo. O aparato obtido foi utilizado para medir a rotação causada por uma amostra normal (0,26 g/ml) de soluções de sacarose e frutose e apresenta uma precisão de 0,04°. Equivalentemente, a precisão em concentração é de 0,001 g/ml ou aproximadamente 0,1% (m/m). Isso corresponde a uma precisão que é uma ordem de grandeza acima dos aparelhos comerciais e técnicas mais comuns utilizadas atualmente. Em contrapartida, o custo da montagem experimental é duas ordens de grandeza menor que os mesmos aparelhos comerciais. A produção de uma gama de ângulos de incidência devido à focalização na superfície cilíndrica do prisma substitui a necessidade de se produzir rotação no eixo de polarização do analisador após a passagem da luz pela amostra opticamente ativa, como ocorre em alguns aparelhos comercializados. Este dispositivo, por ser de baixo custo, compacto e de fácil manuseio, é de grande importância porque pode ser utilizado na indústria sucroalcooleira para a medida da quantidade de sacarose em cana e também na indústria farmacêutica para a identificação de substâncias opticamente ativas dextrogiras ou levógiras. / In this thesis we present a novel technique for measuring light polarization rotation caused by an optically active substance. The system is composed by a LED, two polarizers, a semi cylindrical glass prism, a cuvette, a linear CCD camera and a computer for data analysis. Light from the LED passes through the first polarizer, whose transmission axis is set at 45°. After that, the linear polarized light enters the prism by the semi cylindrical face, occurring reflection in the flat face at critical angle approximately. Several incidence angles are accessed due to the beams finite size and the shape of the semi cylindrical lens. The reflected light passes through the cuvette and then through the analyzer, whose transmission axis is set parallel to the first polarizer. Finally, the light is detected by the CCD. When the cuvette is filled up with water, a destructive interference at the critical angle is observed, characterized by a narrow valley centered at this angle. If the cuvette is filled up with an optically active substance, the center of this valley is shifted depending on the substance, its concentration and the optical path travelled by the light in the substance. A calibration is needed and is performed using a set of solutions of known concentrations. Our apparatus was used to measure the angle rotation caused by a normal solution (0,26 g/ml) of sucrose and fructose solutions and has a precision of 0,04°. It corresponds to a precision that is one order of magnitude above most used commercial apparatus and developed techniques. In contrast, the cost of our experimental setup is two orders of magnitude less than the same commercial devices. The production of a range of angles of incidence due to focusing on the cylindrical surface of the prism replaces the need of producing a rotation of the analyzer polarization axis after the light passes through the optically active sample, as it happens in some commercial devices. Since this device has a low cost, is compact and easy to handle, it may be of great importance for applications in the pharmaceutical industry to identify enantiomers, and in the sugar industry for measuring sugar content in sugar cane juice.

En fournissant des informations précieuses sur la structuration des tissus biologiques à l'échelle submicronique, les techniques d'imagerie polarimétrique optique peuvent aider au diagnostic précoce de diverses pathologies comme des fibroses ou certains cancers. Parmi ces techniques, la polarimétrie de Mueller est la plus complète puisqu'elle permet de déterminer toutes les caractéristiques polarimétriques d'une cible d'intérêt (retard de phase, diatténuation, dépolarisation). Les travaux effectués dans le cadre de cette thèse visent à coupler, pour la première fois, la polarimétrie de Mueller à un déport endoscopique de la lumière par fibre optique pour permettre de caractériser des tissus in vivo in situ et limiter ainsi le recours aux biopsies. Le défi à relever consiste à s'affranchir des perturbations incontrôlables que la fibre introduit sur les états de polarisation de la lumière guidée. Pour ce faire, on propose d'extraire les caractéristiques polarimétriques de l'échantillon d'intérêt à partir des mesures des matrices de Mueller de la fibre seule (longueur 2m) d'une part, de l'ensemble « fibre + échantillon » d'autre part, associées à un traitement mathématique spécifique. Pour la mise en oeuvre de cette solution, un polarimètre de Mueller à fibre, fonctionnant en réflexion, a été conçu spécialement. Deux déclinaisons, avec des mesures soit séquentielles soit simultanées, ont été explorées et comparées. Les mesures ponctuelles de composants polarimétriques calibrés, seuls ou combinés, sont en très bon accord avec les valeurs attendues : erreurs inférieures à 1,5° sur les retards de phase, à 1° sur les orientations relatives des axes de biréfringence, et à 0,02 sur les diatténuations linéaire et circulaire. Les premières images polarimétriques de Mueller d'échantillons manufacturés et biologiques (collagène de type I), réalisées à travers une fibre optique endoscopique, sont également présentées et commentées. / Optical polarimetric imaging techniques can be very attractive for early diagnosis of diseases such as fibrosis or some cancers as they can provide valuable information on the structure of biological tissues at the submicronic scale. Among them, Mueller polarimetry is the only one able to determine all the polarimetric characteristics of any sample (retardance, diattenuation, depolarization). This PhD thesis aims to achieve, for the first time, Mueller polarimetry through an optical fiber in order to allow in vivo in situ characterizations of biological tissues. The challenge is to overcome the uncontrollable perturbations induced by the optical fiber on the polarization states of the guided light. The investigated solution consists in deducing the polarimetric characteristics of the sample from the Mueller matrix of the fiber only (2 m long), and from that of the « fiber + sample » assembly, thanks to a specific mathematical processing. A fibered Mueller polarimeter, working in backscattering configuration has been specially designed. Two versions, based on either sequential or simultaneous measurements, were investigated and compared. Measurements of different sets of calibrated polarimetric components are in a very good agreement with the expected ones: discrepancies lower than 1.5°, 1° and 0.02 respectively have been found on retardance, relative orientations of birefringence eingenaxes and on linear and circular diattenuations. Very first Mueller polarimetric images of manufactured and biological samples (type I collagen) realized through an endoscopic optical fiber are also shown and discussed.

Les milieux humides sont menacés par le changement climatique et l'anthropisation des milieux naturels. La télédétection est un moyen efficace de suivre des variables environnementales sur de grands espaces. Cependant, lorsqu’il s’agit de l’étude de la dynamique hydrologique, une résolution temporelle importante est indispensable. Or celle-ci est difficilement accessible par l'imagerie optique satellitaire du fait de l’important couvert nuageux qui masque le sol. Les capteurs radars, travaillant dans le domaine des micro-ondes, sont tout particulièrement adaptés à la caractérisation des dynamiques hydrologiques grâce à la sensibilité de leurs mesures en présence d’eau et ce quelque soit la végétation en place. Il en découle que toutes les acquisitions Radar à Synthèse d’Ouverture (RSO) sont exploitables, acquises de jour comme de nuit, quel que soit le couvert nuageux.Récemment la télédétection radar satellitaire a vécu une véritable révolution grâce au lancement du satellite Sentinel-1A en 2014 suivi de son jumeaux Sentinel-1B deux ans plus tard par l'Agence Spatiale Européenne dans le cadre du programme Copernicus. Ces capteurs acquièrent des données en bande C (λ = 5,6 cm) sur toute l'Europe chaque 12 jours par satellite et leur diffusion est libre et gratuite pour tous. Le présent travail de thèse vise à évaluer le potentiel de ces données à haute résolution temporelle pour le suivi des surfaces d'eau et des milieux humides.Dans une première partie consacrée à la cartographie des surfaces d'eau, nous avons identifié une confusion la réponse radar en bande C des surfaces d'eau et celle de certains sols nus. Nous avons alors montré que la période hivernale est celle qui présente le moins d’ambiguïté et que la polarisation VH est la plus adaptée à la cartographie des surfaces en eau. Quatre méthodes de détection des zones en eau ont été comparées, il résulte que l’utilisation de méthodes non-supervisées sans données a priori n'est pas envisageable et que les méthodes prenant en compte le voisinage spatial donnent de meilleurs résultats. Un filtrage temporel a été mis au point et a permis d'améliorer la détection et de s'affranchir des confusions entre sols nus et surfaces d'eau permanentes. Les surfaces d'eau de plus de 0,5 ha ont plus de 80 % de chances d'être détectées.Un second volet de cette thèse est consacré au suivi d'une zone humide prairiale par télédétection radar. L'utilisation d'images pleinement polarimétriques a montré que la configuration de polarimétrie partielle VV/VH disponible sur le capteur de Sentinel-1 permet de caractériser l'inondation prairiale avec ou sans végétation. Une méthode prenant en compte l'information de voisinage temporel a permis de traiter une série de 14 images Sentinel-1 pour obtenir 14 cartes d'inondation pour l’année 2015. Une estimation de la précision à l'échelle intra-parcellaire a été mise au point, il apparaît que si la précision est relativement bonne (80 %), le rappel est assez bas (40 %). Cette méthode permet d'établir des bilans d'évolution intra- et inter-annuels.Cette thèse a montré le potentiel de l'utilisation d'images radar à haute résolution temporelle tant pour la cartographie des surfaces en eau que pour le suivi d'une zone humide prairiale / Wetlands are threatened by climate change and the anthropization of natural environments. Satellite remote sensing is useful for environmental monitoring at large areas. However, when it comes to the study of hydrological dynamics, a significant temporal resolution is essential. The latter is difficult to reach with optical satellite imagery because of the cloud cover that masks the ground. Radar sensors are well suited to the characterization of hydrological dynamics thanks to the sensitivity of their measurements in the presence of water, whatever the vegetation in place. As a result, all Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) acquisitions are available, both day and night, regardless of cloud cover.Satellite radar remote sensing has gone through a revolution with the launch of the Sentinel-1A satellite, followed by its twins Sentinel-1B by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus program in 2014. These sensors acquire C-band data (λ = 5.6 cm) on a regular basis on Europe and their distribution is free for all users. Their temporal frequency initially of 12 days has decreased to 6 days from the end of 2016. This work aims at evaluating the potential of these data with high temporal resolution for the monitoring of water bodies and wetlands.The first part of this thesis focuses on water bodies mapping. We found confusion in the C-band radar response between water surfaces and that of some bare soils. We showed that the winter period is the least ambiguous and that the VH polarization is the most suitable for the mapping of water surfaces. Four methods of water detection have been compared. It appears that the use of unsupervised methods without a priori data is not conceivable and that the methods taking into account the spatial neighborhood give better results. Temporal filtering has been developed and has improved detection and avoided confusion between bare soil and permanent water surfaces. Water surfaces of more than 0.5 ha are more than 80% likely to be detected.A second part of this thesis is devoted to the monitoring of wet grasslands by radar remote sensing. The use of fully polarimetric data has shown that the VV/VH partial polarimetry configuration available on the Sentinel-1 sensor is able to characterize the prairial floods with or without vegetation. A method taking into account the temporal neighborhood allowed to process a series of 14 Sentinel-1 images to obtain 14 flood maps. The accuracy of floods maps at the intra-parcel scale has been estimated, it appears that if the precision is relatively good (80%), but the recall is rather low (40%). This method allow to establish intra- and inter-annual monitoring.This thesis has shown the potential of high temporal resolution radar images for the mapping of the water surfaces and for the monitoring of a wetland meadow