SIR-B Experiments in Japan: Sensor Calibration and Oil Pollution Detection Over Ocean

Preliminary results of the SIR-B experiments conducted in Japan are reported mainly on the sensor calibration and the oil pollution experiments. No significant result was obtained for the rice crop experiment which was carried out at the same time, mainly due to the late flight of SIR-B. The sensor calibration experiment was eventually reduced to only the evaluation of the imaging characteristics of SIR-B. However, a reasonable relation between the image count and RCS is found, and the resolution analysis by using the corner reflector images gives satisfactory results. A possible cause leading to what are rather overestimates of the resolution is pointed out to be the background clutter. A simulated oil slick area over sea was clearly detected on the SIR-B image, although the incident angle was not so appropriate for the purpose. This result demonstrates the capability of a space-borne synthetic aperture radar for effective surveillance of oil spills over high seas.