Development of the ERS-1 active radar calibration unit

Author

Jackson, Harry D. ; Woode, Alan

Author_Institution

Eur. Space Technol. Centre, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Volume

40

Issue

6

fYear

1992

fDate

6/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1063

Lastpage

1069

Abstract

The development of a microwave active radar calibration unit (ARC) to be used as a ground calibration reference standard for the European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 imaging synthetic aperture radar is described. Three such units are placed across the radar swath, giving point target returns with a known signal strength, and are used to calibrate the radar image. The units have been designed for maximum stability with temperature (<0.1 dB over the temperature range of -15°C to +35°C). For absolute calibration the ARC is referenced to a flat plate using a novel technique of multiple transmission in its self-calibration mode, achieving an absolute calibration error of <0.14 dB

Keywords

calibration; geophysical techniques; microwave imaging; microwave measurement; remote sensing by radar; -15 to 35 C; ERS-1; European Remote Sensing Satellite; absolute calibration; active radar calibration unit; ground calibration reference standard; imaging synthetic aperture radar; known signal strength; land surface; measurement technique; point target returns; radar image calibration; satellite remote sensing; self-calibration mode; stability; temperature range; Calibration; Radar imaging; Radar remote sensing; Remote sensing; Satellites; Spaceborne radar; Standards development; Synthetic aperture radar; Temperature distribution; Temperature sensors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.141336

Filename

141336