Effect of Faraday rotation on polarimetric SAR

Author

Gail, W.B.

Author_Institution

Ball Aerospace & Technol. Corp., Boulder, CO

Volume

34

Issue

1

fYear

1998

fDate

1/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

301

Lastpage

307

Abstract

The effect of ionospheric Faraday rotation on polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is evaluated theoretically. Faraday rotation is readily included in the polarimetric SAR system equation describing the received signal if the rotation angle is assumed constant over the synthetic aperture length. Deviations from a constant rotation angle over this length impact the validity of the derived system equation, but an explicit evaluation shows such effects to be negligible for most expected ionospheric conditions. The modified system equation provides a basis for calibration techniques that can be used to either remove or measure Faraday rotation effects in SAR imagery

Keywords

Faraday effect; calibration; ionospheric electromagnetic wave propagation; magneto-optical effects; optical dispersion; radar cross-sections; radar imaging; radar polarimetry; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; Faraday rotation; SAR imagery; SAR system equation; calibration techniques; constant rotation angle; explicit evaluation; polarimetric SAR; polarimetric synthetic aperture radar imagery; synthetic aperture length; system equation; Backscatter; Calibration; Distortion measurement; Equations; Frequency; Position measurement; Radar scattering; Rotation measurement; Spaceborne radar; Synthetic aperture radar;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9251

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/7.640287

Filename

640287