ABSTRACT
Radar, owing to its geometry acquisition (directional and side viewing) and longer wavelengths, provides unique information on the Earth’s surface. It is complementary to optical remote sensors. The response of a scene to the wave emitted by a radar sensor is dependent primarily on a large number of factors including moisture, roughness, amount of vegetation, geometric structure of the scene, and, secondarily, on parameters of the system itself (wavelength, angle of incidence, polarization). Many
studies have focused on the physical understanding of polarimetry, including backscatter, when characterizing a target (Huynen, 1970).

The purpose of this work is to assess the potential of radar data for the characterization of a complex lacustrine area and to evaluate the complementarity between radar and optical data for the identification of land use/land cover types.

KEYWORDS
RADAR, optical remote sensing, texture, classification, land cover, Tunisian coastal area.