the distribution of amplitude and improve the performance.

But the segmentation

threshold selection and the pixel completion scheme are empirical, limiting its
practicality and leading to failures in some complicated scenes.

In this paper, a novel scalloping suppression method is proposed based on modified

Kalman filter with pre-processing. To improve the robustness of the method, the
condition for applying Kalman filter on ScanSAR image is analyzed, which shows that
the suppression performance of Kalman filter is affected by the statistical distribution of
image. Therefore, the Jarque-Bera test is adopted to measure the applicability of Kalman
filter quantitatively. Then, a novel pre-processing operation is presented based on the
Jarque-Bera value, which ensures the following Kalman filtering operation to
accommodate different scenes of SAR image. In this pre-processing operation, the image
is divided into two sub-images by selecting an appropriate threshold, which is calculated
by a genetic algorithm and chosen based on the maximum between-cluster variance
principle. As for each sub-image, missing pixels will be filled to satisfy the Gaussian
distribution requirement of Kalman filter. Consequently, Kalman filtering is performed
on each sub-image for scalloping estimation and suppression, respectively. Then, sub-
images fusion is implemented by only preserving the pixels from the original input
image. Finally, the proposed method is verified by GF-3 and TerraSAR-X images, with
corresponding analysis and discussion. The results demonstrate that the proposed
method can accommodate the complex scene well and achieve effective scalloping
suppression.

This paper is organized as follows. An overview of the ScanSAR mode and the modified
Kalman filer for scalloping removal are presented in Section II. Analysis of the Kalman
filter's limitation is analyzed in Section III, followed by the proposed method in Section
IV. Experimental results for scalloping suppression on GF-3 and TerraSAR images are
provided in Section V and conclusions are drawn in Section VI.

1. Scalloping Removal With Modified

Kalman Filter
In this section, a simplified geometry of the ScanSAR mode together with working
mechanism is reviewed, firstly. By analyzing the properties of ScanSAR image, an image
model is then introduced for describing the scalloping effect. Finally, a modified Kalman
filter is provided for scalloping estimation.

2. A. ScanSAR Model
In ScanSAR mode, azimuth resolution is traded off for swath coverage. To obtain a wide-
swath in range, the antenna elevation beam of ScanSAR mode is steered to different
contiguous range sub-swaths periodically, as shown in Fig. 2. As a result, for each sub-
swath, the dwell time is reduced compared to the stripmap mode, and the scene is
illuminated by the antenna beam for a short time interval, which is dependent on the
azimuth resolution and the number of sub-swaths [12]. Note that each target is
illuminated with only a small portion of the azimuth antenna pattern (AAP), and targets
located in different azimuth positions will be weighted by different portions of the AAP,
resulting in non-stationarity of amplitudes in azimuth. Consequently, the scalloping
effect appears after image formation processing, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
Fig. 2. ScanSAR acquisition geometry.
Fig. 3. Scalloping in a GF-3 ScanSAR image for one sub-swath.

3. B. Removal of Scalloping

Maximal Kalman filter may help reduce the noising effect during picture focusing,
however the noising effect still has a major impact on image quality because of
inaccuracy and error pattern. Therefore, a noisied picture model is provided by, to
characterise the noise-reduction effect.

PS (b , a)=I S (b , a)−I P (b , a) b ∈[1 , B ]a ∈[1 , A ] (1)

The notation I P (b , a) represents the ideal two-dimensional picture without any

interference . On the other hand, I s (rb ,a) represents the image that has been interfered
with errors. Lastly, Ps ( b , a) denotes the impact of error removal on the image. The
variables B and A represent the quantity of range sampling points and pixel frames,
respectively. The variables "r" and "a" represent the coordinates of a pixel inside the
range and error points. The matrices I P (b , a) , I s (b , a), and Ps ( b , a) may be considered
as two-dimensional matrices.

The correction of error range is often carried out during the process of picture focusing,
resulting in little variance in the error range. In order to maintain simplicity and
preserve generality, this work assumes that the intensity of error remains constant
throughout the range direction. Hence, for each given frame, equation (1) may be
reformulated as

I S (b)=I P (b)+ PS b ∈[1 , B] (2)

where PS exists a persistent error component associated with I P ( b).

Considering I P ( b) The introduction of a noise element in the issue leads to the

transformation of intensity estimate into the estimation of a direct current component in
the presence of noise. Therefore, a novel approach is suggested for estimating noise
error via the use of the maximal Kalman filtering technique. I S The output of a linear
system is denoted as PS, which represents the state value that is to be calculated.

In the context of a discrete process, the estimation of the error value is often performed
using the stochastic difference equation shown below.

x l= A x l−1+ ωl−1 (3)

where x represents the linear state of PS , A is the linear data transition matrix, ω is the
processed noise.

Then, define the observation equation as

z l=H x l+ v l (4)

In the given context, z is the observed state of PS, H represents the observation gain
matrix, and v represents the observation noise.

Typically, it is assumed that they are independent and follow a white Gaussian
distribution, that is,

p(ω )∼ N (0 , Q)
(5)
p(v)∼ N (0 , R)

where p(∙) is the probability density function is denoted as Q, which represents the
variance of system noise, whereas R represents the variance of observation noise.

Considering the information presented in (2), the variable PS is the quantity that has to
be approximated. Given that OS is a constant, it remains in a fixed state, resulting in
parameter A being equal to 1 in equation (3).The variable I 0 (b) ,b ∈[1 , B] , where b
belongs to the interval [1,B], represents the observation noise in equation (4). In this
estimate, the pixel value of the interfering picture serves as the measurement value of the
system, with no additional gain. As a result, the value of H in equation (4) is equal to 1.
Based on the aforementioned model, it is possible to express the prior estimate
covariance and posterior estimate covariance of the system.
¿ (6)
−¿¿
where x́ l and x́ l are the k th is the previous estimate and posterior estimate refer to the
initial and updated estimations of the system state, respectively. The time update
equations and state update equations of the maximal Kalman filter are derived as
follows.

Prediction equation:

¿ (7)

Update equation:

¿ (8)

where K l The blending factor that minimizes the covariance of the a posteriori error is
determined by the covariances of the process noise (Q) and observation noise (R), with
the unity matrix (I) also playing a role.

The maximal Kalman filter, when used iteratively, demonstrates the ability to effectively
estimate the intensity of error in each column. This estimation may then be utilized to
remove the estimated error from each column, so achieving error suppression.

4. CONDITIONS FOR KALMAN

FILTER'S APPLICABILITY
However, the estimation method mentioned above sometimes does not achieve the
desired effect in practice, especially for complex scene. Detailed analysis and
experiments indicate that this is related to the statistical distribution of SAR image
amplitude.

It is known that the derivation of the Kalman filter is based on the assumption of an
independent white Gaussian noise. From the previous section, the real amplitude value
of image is considered as the observation noise when estimating the intensity of the
scalloping. However, the distribution of SAR image amplitude is subject to the Rayleigh
distribution, and the correlation between pixels makes the distribution not independent
anymore. Fortunately, experimental results show that although the statistical
distribution of the image does not satisfy the independent requirement or Gaussian
distribution, the Kalman filter can still achieve accurate results, as long as the statistical
distribution of each column does not deviate far from the Gaussian distribution.

To measure the difference between the statistical distribution of each column

(corresponds to each frame in azimuth) and the Gaussian distribution, the Jarque-Bera
test is introduced, to verify whether the data has the skewness and kurtosis that match
the Gaussian distribution or not. The larger the J-B test result is, the more deviation
from the Gaussian distribution. The Jarque-Bera test result can be calculated as follows
[15].

J−B=¿

where n is the number of observations, S is the skewness, and K is the kurtosis:

n
1
∑ ❑ ( x i− x́ )3
n i=1
S=

[ ]
n 3/ 2
1
∑
n i=1
❑ ( xi −x́ )
2

n
1
∑ ❑ ( x i−x́ )4
n i=1
K=

[ ]
n 2
1
∑
n i=1
❑ ( x i−x́ )
2