Extraction of geomorphological features using radarsat data

A study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of RADARSAT SAR data (Standard-7 and Wide-2 beam positions) for delineating the geomophological units in Itanagar Capital Complex of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been applied to Standard-7 and Wide-2 data with incidence angle 45° – 49° and 31 ° – 39° respectively. The resulting components yield imagery that highlights the Geomorphological units. The area of investigation has been classified into five geomophological units’ viz., High relief structural hills, low relief structural hills, low relief rugged hills, piedmont and intermontane valley. The surface roughness can be observed by studying the difference of the responses from different incidence angles. Wide-2 beam position was found to be more useful for identifying features in flat terrain, and Standard-7 beam position data for features of high relief.