Calibration of an airborne X-band interferomettic SAR system with fine DEM Original Research Article

A fine DEM with a 0.5 meter mesh was developed based on the data observed with the laser topographical measurement system mounted on a helicopter. The DEM will be used for calibration of the air-borne X-band interferometric SAR system. A sensitivity analysis of error factors of the fine DEM clarifies that the error of detecting an attitude of the platform has the largest influence on the total error of the topographic measurement system. Comparison with the fine DEM with a conventional DEM with a 50 m mesh shows that the fine DEM expresses the shape of a crown in a vegetated area and the detailed topographical feature on a bare ground surface.