The RADARSAT-1 imaging performance, 14 years after launch, and independent report on RADARSAT-2 image quality

This paper summarizes the calibration monitoring activities of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) executed under the RADARSAT Program. The performance history of the RADARSAT-1 SAR since its commissioning in 1996 is reviewed, along with the calibration systems and methodologies used, in the context of the mission´s thirteen-year calibration history. Independent image quality measurements for the privately-owned RADARSAT-2, launched in 2008, are also presented. It is shown that the calibration parameters of the RADARSAT-1 SAR have consistently been maintained within the mission´s design goals and specifications, mostly thanks to payload stability and timely recalibrations performed using the calibration ground equipment. For RADARSAT-2, CSA´s measurements report outstanding image quality levels.