It has long been known that ship wakes are observable by synthetic aperture radar. However, incomplete physical understanding has prevented the development of simulation tools that can predict both the structure and persistence of wakes in the ocean environment. It is the focus of this work to develop an end-to-end multi-scale modeling-and-simulation methodology that captures the known physics between the source of disturbance and the sensor. This includes turbulent hydrodynamics, free-surface effects, environmental forcing through Langmuir-type circulations, generation of surface currents and redistribution of surface-active substances, surface-roughness modification, and simulation of the signature generated by reflection and scattering of electromagnetic waves from the ocean surface. The end-to-end methodology is based upon several customized computational fluid dynamics solvers and empirical models which are linked together. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, including models for the Craik-Leibovich vortex force and near surface Reynolds-stress anisotropy, are solved at full-scale Reynolds and Froude numbers on domains that extend tens of kilometers behind the ship. A parametric study is undertaken to explore the effects of ship heading, ship propulsion, ocean-wave amplitude and wavelength, and the relative importance of Langmuir-type circulations vs. near-surface Reynolds-stress anisotropy on the generation of surface currents that are transverse to the wake centerline. Due to the vortex force, the structure of the persistent wake is shown to be a function of the relative angle between the ambient long-wavelength swell and the ship heading. Ships operating in head seas observe 1-3 streaks, while ships operating in following seas observe 2 symmetric streaks. Ships operating in calm seas generate similar wakes to those in following seas, but with reduced wake width and persistence. In addition to the structure of the persistent wake, the far wake is shown to be dominated by ship-induced turbulence and surface-current gradients generating a wide center wake. The redistribution of surface-active substances by surface currents is simulated using a scalar-transport model on the ocean surface. Simulation of surface-roughness modification is accomplished by solving a wave-action balance model which accounts for the relative change in the ambient wave-spectrum by the surface currents and the damping-effects of surface-active substances and turbulence. Simulated returns from synthetic aperture radar are generated with two methods implemented. The first method generates a perfect SAR image where the instrument and platform based errors are neglected, but the impact of a randomized ocean field on the radar cross section is considered. The second method simulates the full SAR process including signal detection and processing. Comparisons are made to full-scale field experiments with good agreement between the structure of the persistent wake and observed SAR imagery. / 1 / It has long been known that ship wakes are observable by synthetic aperture radar. However, incomplete physical understanding has prevented the development of simulation tools that can predict both the structure and persistence of wakes in the ocean environment, which is critical to understanding both the design and operation of maritime remote sensors as well as providing tactically relevant operational guidance and awareness of the maritime domain. It is the focus of this work to develop an end-to-end multi-scale modeling-and simulation methodology that captures the known physics between the source of disturbance and the sensor. This includes turbulent hydrodynamics, free-surface effects, environmental forcing, generation of surface currents and redistribution of surface-active substances, surface-roughness modification, and simulation of the signature from the ocean surface. The end-to-end methodology is based upon several customized computational fluid dynamics solvers and empirical models. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, including models to account for environmental effects and near-surface turbulence, are solved at full-scale on domains that extend tens of kilometers behind the ship. A parametric study is undertaken to explore the effects of ship heading, ship propulsion, ocean-wave amplitude and wavelength, and the relative importance of environmental forcing vs. near-surface turbulence on the generation of surface currents that are transverse to the wake centerline. Due to the environmental forcing, the structure of the persistent wake is shown to be a function of the relative angle between the ambient long-wavelength swell and the ship heading. Ships operating in head seas observe 1-3 streaks, while ships operating in following seas observe 2 symmetric streaks. Ships operating in calm seas generate similar wakes to those in following seas, but with reduced wake width and persistence. In addition to the structure of the persistent wake, the far wake is shown to be dominated by ship-induced turbulence and surface-current gradients generating a wide center wake. The redistribution of surface films by surface currents is simulated using a scalar-transport model on the ocean surface. Simulation of surface-roughness modification is accomplished by solving a wave-action-balance model which accounts for the relative change in the ambient surface profile by the surface currents and the damping-effects of surface-active substances and turbulence. Simulated returns from synthetic aperture radar are generated with two methods implemented. The first method generates a perfect SAR image where the instrument and platform based errors are neglected, but the impact of a randomized ocean field on the radar cross section is considered. The second method simulates the full SAR process including signal detection and processing. Comparisons are made to full-scale field experiments with good agreement between the structure of the persistent wake and observed SAR imagery.

L’observation de la Terre par des systèmes d’acquisition d’images permet de suivre l’évolution temporelle de phénomènes naturels tels que les séismes, les volcans ou les mouvements gravitaires. Différentes techniques existent dont l’imagerie satellitaire, la photogrammétrie terrestre et les mesures in-situ. Les séries temporelles d’images issues d’appareils photo automatiques (Time Lapse) sont une source d’informations en plein essor car elles offrent un compromis intéressant en termes de couverture spatiale et de fréquence d’observation pour mesurer les déplacements de surface de zones spécifiques. Cette thèse est consacrée à l’analyse de séries d’images issues de la photographie terrestre et de l’imagerie radar satellitaire pour la mesure du déplacement des glaciers Alpins. Nous nous intéressons en particulier aux problèmes du traitement de Time Lapse stéréo pour le suivi d’objets géophysiques dans des conditions terrain peu favorables à la photogrammétrie. Nous proposons une chaîne de traitement mono-caméra qui comprend les étapes de sélection automatique des images, de recalage et de calcul de champs de déplacement bidimensionnel (2D). L’information apportée par les couples stéréo est ensuite exploitée à l’aide du logiciel MICMAC pour reconstruire le relief et obtenir le déplacement tridimensionnel(3D). Plusieurs couples d’images radar à synthèse d’ouverture (SAR) ont également été traités à l’aide des outils EFIDIR pour obtenir des champs de déplacement 2D dans la géométrie radar sur des orbites ascendantes ou descendantes. La combinaison de mesures obtenues quasi-simultanément sur ces deux types d’orbites permet de reconstruire le déplacement 3D. Ces méthodes ont été mises en oeuvre sur des séries de couples stéréo acquis par deux appareils photo automatiques installés sur la rive droite du glacier d’Argentière et sur des images du satellite TerraSAR-X couvrant le massif du Mont-Blanc. Les résultats sont présentés sur des données acquises lors d’une expérimentation multi-instruments menée en collaboration avec l’IGN à l’automne 2013, incluant le déploiement d’un réseau de Géocubes qui ont fournit des mesures GPS. Elles sont utilisées pour évaluer la précision des résultats obtenus par télédétection proximale et spatiale sur ce type de glacier. / Earth observation by image acquisition systems allows the survey of temporal evolution of natural phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes or gravitational movements. Various techniques exist including satellite imagery, terrestrial photogrammetry and in-situ measurements. Image time series from automatic cameras (Time Lapse) are a growing source of information since they offer an interesting compromise in terms of spatial coverage and observation frequency in order to measure surface motion in specific areas. This PhD thesis is devoted to the analysis of image time series from terrestrial photography and satellite radar imagery to measure the displacement of Alpine glaciers. We are particularly interested in Time Lapse stereo processing problems for monitoring geophysical objects in unfavorable conditions for photogrammetry. We propose a single-camera processing chain that includes the steps of automatic photograph selection, coregistration and calculation of two-dimensional (2D) displacement field. The information provided by the stereo pairs is then processed using the MICMAC software to reconstruct the relief and get the three-dimensional (3D) displacement. Several pairs of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images were also processed with the EFIDIR tools to obtain 2D displacement fields in the radar geometry in ascending or descending orbits. The combination of measurements obtained almost simultaneously on these two types of orbits allows the reconstruction of the 3D displacement. These methods have been implemented on time series of stereo pairs acquired by two automatic cameras installed on the right bank of the Argentière glacier and on TerraSAR-X satellite images covering the Mont-Blanc massif. The results are presented on data acquired during a multi-instrument experiment conducted in collaboration with the French Geographic National Institute (IGN) during the fall of 2013,with a network of Géocubes which provided GPS measurements. They are used to evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained by proximal and remote sensing on this type of glacier.

Le bruit de chatoiement (speckle) lié aux systèmes d'imagerie cohérente a des conséquences sur l'analyse et l'interprétation des images radar à synthèse d'ouverture (RSO). Pour corriger ce défaut, nous profitons de séries temporelles d'images RSO bien recalées. Nous améliorons le filtre adaptatif temporel non-local à l'aide de méthodes performantes de débruitage adaptatif et proposons un filtrage temporel adaptatif basé sur les patchs. Pour réduire le biais du débruitage, nous proposons une méthode originale, rapide et efficace de débruitage multitemporel. L'idée principale de l'approche proposée est d'utiliser l'image dite "de ratio", donnée par le rapport entre l'image et la moyenne temporelle de la pile. Cette image de ratio est plus facile à débruiter qu'une image isolée en raison de sa meilleure stationnarité. Par ailleurs, les structures fines stables dans le temps sont bien préservées grâce au moyennage multitemporel. Disposant d'images débruitées, nous proposons ensuite d'utiliser la méthode du rapport de vraisemblance généralisé simplifié pour détecter les zones de changement ainsi que l'amplitude des changements et les instants de changements intéressants dans de longues séries d'images correctement recalées. En utilisant le partitionnement spectral, on applique le rapport de vraisemblance généralisé simplifié pour caractériser les changements des séries temporelles. Nous visualisons les résultats de détection en utilisant l'échelle de couleur 'jet' et une colorisation HSV. Ces méthodes ont été appliquées avec succès pour étudier des zones cultivées, des zones urbaines, des régions portuaires et des changements dus à des inondations. / The inherent speckle which is attached to any coherent imaging system affects the analysis and interpretation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. To take advantage of well-registered multi-temporal SAR images, we improve the adaptive nonlocal temporal filter with state-of-the-art adaptive denoising methods and propose a patch based adaptive temporal filter. To address the bias problem of the denoising results, we propose a fast and efficient multitemporal despeckling method. The key idea of the proposed approach is the use of the ratio image, provided by the ratio between an image and the temporal mean of the stack. This ratio image is easier to denoise than a single image thanks to its improved stationarity. Besides, temporally stable thin structures are well-preserved thanks to the multi-temporal mean. Without reference image, we propose to use a patch-based auto-covariance residual evaluation method to examine the residual image and look for possible remaining structural contents. With speckle reduction images, we propose to use simplified generalized likelihood ratio method to detect the change area, change magnitude and change times in long series of well-registered images. Based on spectral clustering, we apply the simplified generalized likelihood ratio to detect the time series change types. Then, jet colormap and HSV colorization may be used to vividly visualize the detection results. These methods have been successfully applied to monitor farmland area, urban area, harbor region, and flooding area changes.