Performance of Stereoradargrammetric Methods Applied to Spaceborne Monostatic–Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar

This paper aims to investigate the performance of stereoradargrammetric methods applied to spaceborne monostatic-bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data for digital elevation model (DEM) generation. Stereoradargrammetric techniques for robust DEM generation were successfully experienced on monostatic repeat-pass SIR-A, SIR-B, SIR-C/X-SAR, ERS1/2, JERS-1, and Radarsat data. However, novel configurations achievable by modern spacecraft flying in formation will allow for the attainment of very large baselines between the antennas in a single-pass bistatic geometry so that the height determination accuracy can benefit from both stereo effect and simultaneous acquisition. Five models for relief reconstruction by monostatic-bistatic SAR stereoradargrammetry are presented, and an error budget is assessed for each of them. Results of the sensitivity analysis exhibit metric accuracy, and therefore, the technique could be applied for height reconstruction as a methodology complementary to SAR interferometry.