On the optimization of interferometric SAR for topographic mapping

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides the possibility of producing topographic maps and cartographically corrected radar images using an interferometric method. The technique requires two SAR images of the same area gathered from slightly separated positions. The interferometric baseline may be optimized to minimize the topographic altitude error. The altitude error caused by the radar system and the topography is discussed. The simulation of an interferometric measurement based on ERS-1 SAR parameters is presented. It is found that the terrain topography has a significant effect on the height error, which in many cases is more severe than baseline decorrelation