The altimeter precision comparison between SAR mode and conventional mode through airborne experiment

Compared with conventional radar altimeter (CRA), synthetic aperture radar altimeter (SARAL) is a new generation radar altimeter and has better height precision and spatial resolution. As using synthetic aperture technique, SARAL data processing is very different from CRA. To verify the performance and the processing algorithm, an airborne experimental system of SARAL is developed. The experimental system was installed in Y-12 aircraft, and a lot of data was obtained in the October 2014. The echo signal with SAR mode and conventional mode are obtained at the same time, so the standard deviations of the two modes are compared. The results indicate that the height precision of SARAL is improved about 1 times. The significant wave height value extracted from the SARAL waveform is very close to that of the buoy deployed at the experiment area.