Validation and calibration of SAR imagery of Manu National Park, Peru

A joint calibration experiment between the synthetic aperture radars (SAR) onboard NASA/JPL´s AIRSAR and Japan´s NASDA J-ERS-1 satellite was performed by cotemporally imaging Manu National Park in Peru on June 7, 1993. The data from both instruments were subsequently processed and calibrated at their respective institutions. In situ data at the site in Peru consisting of ground and aerial photographs, GPS coordinates, dielectric measurements, ecological characterization, rainforest structural parameters, and vegetation species identification were collected in early September 1993. Some of the objectives of this experiment were to quantify the relative calibration of AIRSAR and J-ERS-1 data, identify ecological habitats from radar backscatter, and to classify backscatter response due to structural characteristics of the rainforest. Since temporal, global coverage of the J-ERS-1 L-band HH polarization SAR exists, data from this instrument may provide a means for both remote ecological habitat identification and the ability to monitor the extent and conversion of rainforests as man encroaches on ever more remote regions of the world. This paper includes a discussion of the calibration of the SAR instruments.