Title :
A pod-based dual-beam SAR
Author :
Farquharson, Gordon ; Junek, William N. ; Ramanathan, Arun ; Frasier, Stephen J. ; Tessier, Russell ; McLaughlin, David J. ; Sletten, Mark A. ; Toporkov, Jakov V.
Author_Institution :
Microwave Remote Sensing Lab., Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
fDate :
4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A dual-beam along-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar that is entirely self-contained within an aircraft pod has been developed by the University of Massachusetts to study sea surface processes in coastal regions. The radar operates at 5.3 GHz with a bandwidth of up to 25 MHz. System hardware is described. Initial test flights aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration´s WP-3D research aircraft were performed to evaluate system performance over land and water surfaces. Imagery were collected for fore and aft squinted beams, though no interferometric data were collected. Notable look-angle dependences are observed in the sea surface normalized radar cross section under very low wind conditions.
Keywords :
aircraft instrumentation; oceanographic equipment; oceanographic regions; radar cross-sections; radar imaging; remote sensing by radar; seawater; synthetic aperture radar; 25 MHz; 5.3 GHz; WP-3D research aircraft; aircraft pod; coastal regions; land surfaces; notable look-angle dependences; pod-based dual-beam SAR; radar imagery; sea surface normalized radar cross section; sea surface processes; system hardware; test flights; track interferometric synthetic aperture radar; very low wind conditions; water surfaces; Aircraft; Bandwidth; Hardware; Performance evaluation; Radar imaging; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Synthetic aperture radar interferometry; System performance; System testing;
Journal_Title :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/LGRS.2004.826553
