The DLR SAR calibration center

A SAR system has to be calibrated for quantitative measurement. During this process all essential parameters of a SAR image are linked to their geophysical quantity. This includes the location of the image pixel, its backscattering characteristics (in amplitude and in phase) and polarimetric information. The Microwave and Radar Institute of the DLR has gained a lot of experience in these calibration procedures during the last decades and has developed special methods and dedicated reference targets for spaceborne SAR system calibration. In example of calibration results obtained for different spaceborne SAR systems the DLR SAR Calibration Center is presented.

[1]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  First Results of the Sentinel-1A In-Orbit Antenna Characterization Performed by DLR , 2014 .

[2]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  In-Orbit Calibration Plan of Sentinel-1 , 2010 .

[3]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  Calibration of the TerraSAR-X and the TanDEM-X satellite for the TerraSAR-X mission , 2012 .

[4]  Achim Roth,et al.  Geometric Error Budget Analysis for TerraSAR-X , 2004 .

[5]  David Small,et al.  Estimation of Atmospheric Path Delays in TerraSAR-X Data using Models vs. Measurements , 2008, Sensors.

[6]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  Independent Verification of the Sentinel-1A System Calibration , 2014, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

[7]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  In-orbit calibration of the TanDEM-X system , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[8]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  Calibration Performance of the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X Satellites since Launch , 2014 .

[9]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  The Three-Transponder Method: A Novel Method for Accurate Transponder RCS Calibration , 2014 .

[10]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  Hierarchical Bayesian Data Analysis in Radiometric SAR System Calibration: A Case Study on Transponder Calibration with RADARSAT-2 Data , 2013, Remote. Sens..

[11]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  Active Antenna Module Characterisation by Pseudo-Noise Gating , 2002 .

[12]  Marco Schwerdt,et al.  Final TerraSAR-X Calibration Results Based on Novel Efficient Methods , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.