A high accuracy calibration and receive instrument for TerraSAR-X ground calibration

Author

Lenz, Rainer ; Pontes, Juan ; Wiesbeck, Werner

Author_Institution

Inst. fur Hochstfrequenztechnik und Elektron., Univ. Karlsruhe, Germany

Volume

3

fYear

2005

fDate

4-6 Oct. 2005

Abstract

TerraSAR-X is a new Earth observing satellite which is launched in spring 2006. It carries a high resolution X-band SAR sensor. For high image data quality, accurate ground calibration targets are necessary. This paper describes a novel system concept for an active and highly integrated, digitally controlled SAR system calibrator. A total of 16 active transponder and receiver systems and 17 receiver only systems will be fabricated for a calibration campaign. The calibration units serve for absolute radiometric calibration of the SAR image data. Additionally, they are equipped with an extra receiver path for 2D satellite antenna pattern recognition. The calibrator is monitored by a dedicated digital control unit. For antenna pattern estimation, an algorithm is presented.

Keywords

antenna radiation patterns; artificial satellites; calibration; microwave antennas; pattern recognition; radar antennas; radiometry; remote sensing by radar; satellite antennas; synthetic aperture radar; transponders; 2D satellite antenna pattern recognition; Earth observing satellite; TerraSAR-X ground calibration; X-band SAR sensor; active transponder; antenna pattern estimation; digital SAR system calibrator; ground calibration targets; image data quality; radiometric calibration; receive instrument; Calibration; Control systems; Digital control; Earth; Instruments; Radiometry; Receiving antennas; Satellite broadcasting; Springs; Transponders;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Conference, 2005 European

Print_ISBN

2-9600551-2-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EUMC.2005.1610394

Filename

1610394