Passive calibration of the backscattering coefficient of the ENVISAT RA-2: evaluation of radiative models for sea and land

Author

Pierdicca, N. ; Castracane, P. ; Pulvirenti, L. ; Greco, B. ; Ferrazzoli, P. ; Guerriero, L. ; Schiavon, G. ; Ciotti, P. ; Marzano, F.S. ; Bernardini, L. ; Basili, P. ; Bonafoni, S. ; Mattioli, V.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Ingegneria Elettronica, Univ. di Roma, Italy

Volume

6

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Firstpage

3105

Abstract

The passive calibration of the radar altimeter consists in characterising the receiver by observing natural surfaces with known emission in the so-called noise-sensing mode. The paper focuses on the general approach undertaken to simulate the brightness temperature at the top of the atmosphere observed by the Envisat Radar Altimeter (RA-2). It is based on emissivity models for land and sea as well as atmospheric radiation models supported by a continuous flow of on-line data used as model inputs.

Keywords

calibration; geophysical equipment; geophysical techniques; oceanographic equipment; oceanographic techniques; radar equipment; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; terrain mapping; ENVISAT RA-2; Envisat; Radar Altimeter 2; backscattering coefficient; emissivity; geophysical measurement technique; land surface; noise-sensing mode; ocean; passive calibration; radar remote sensing; radiative model; sea level; sea surface; spaceborne radar; terrain mapping; Atmospheric modeling; Backscatter; Brightness temperature; Calibration; Equations; Extraterrestrial measurements; Frequency; Radiometers; Sea measurements; Spaceborne radar;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2002. IGARSS '02. 2002 IEEE International

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7536-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.2002.1027099

Filename

1027099