Innovative and efficient strategy of calibrating Sentinel-1

In the frame of the GMES program, the main objective of the Sentinel-1 mission is to ensure the continuity of SAR data acquisitions for SAR applications in C-band for global earth monitoring. But in contrast to SAR systems already existing in C-band like ASAR/ENVISAT or RADARSAT-2, high demands on the radiometric accuracy are made. Thus, product quality is of paramount importance and the success or failure of the mission depends essentially on the method of calibrating the entire Sentinel-1 system in an efficient way. This paper describes the strategy and the method of calibrating Sentinel-1.