C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators

Quad-polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are important detection tools in Earth observation and remote sensing; in particular, they are of great significance for accurately interpreting radar data and inverting geophysical parameters. Polarimetric calibration is particularly criti...

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Main Authors: Yanan Jiao, Fengli Zhang, Xiaochen Liu, Zhiwei Huang, Jingwen Yuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/2/282
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author Yanan Jiao
Fengli Zhang
Xiaochen Liu
Zhiwei Huang
Jingwen Yuan
author_facet Yanan Jiao
Fengli Zhang
Xiaochen Liu
Zhiwei Huang
Jingwen Yuan
author_sort Yanan Jiao
collection DOAJ
description Quad-polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are important detection tools in Earth observation and remote sensing; in particular, they are of great significance for accurately interpreting radar data and inverting geophysical parameters. Polarimetric calibration is particularly critical to eliminate the effects of distortion in polarized SAR data. The C-SAR/02 satellite launched by China is an important part of the C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation, and the quad-polarization strip I (QPSI) is an important imaging mode for its sea–land observation. The relevant research on its polarimetric calibration is still lacking. This study’s polarimetric calibration of C-SAR/02 was performed based on the active radar calibrator (ARC) method using four independently developed L/S/C multi-band ARCs and several trihedral corner reflectors (CRs). The polarimetric calibration distortion matrix varies along the range direction; the polarimetric calibration distortion matrix and polarimetric calibration accuracy along the range direction were analyzed, incorporating the devices in different range directions to calculate the distortion matrix. This approach improved the accuracy of the polarimetric calibration results and the effect of the quantization application of the C-SAR satellites. Moreover, our experimental results indicate that the method presented herein is suitable for the C-SAR/02 satellite and may also be more universally applicable to C-SAR-series satellites.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2072-4292
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
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series Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-346bad40fd744c93ab1374a6aacc0b792025-01-24T13:47:59ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-01-0117228210.3390/rs17020282C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar CalibratorsYanan Jiao0Fengli Zhang1Xiaochen Liu2Zhiwei Huang3Jingwen Yuan4Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaQuad-polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are important detection tools in Earth observation and remote sensing; in particular, they are of great significance for accurately interpreting radar data and inverting geophysical parameters. Polarimetric calibration is particularly critical to eliminate the effects of distortion in polarized SAR data. The C-SAR/02 satellite launched by China is an important part of the C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation, and the quad-polarization strip I (QPSI) is an important imaging mode for its sea–land observation. The relevant research on its polarimetric calibration is still lacking. This study’s polarimetric calibration of C-SAR/02 was performed based on the active radar calibrator (ARC) method using four independently developed L/S/C multi-band ARCs and several trihedral corner reflectors (CRs). The polarimetric calibration distortion matrix varies along the range direction; the polarimetric calibration distortion matrix and polarimetric calibration accuracy along the range direction were analyzed, incorporating the devices in different range directions to calculate the distortion matrix. This approach improved the accuracy of the polarimetric calibration results and the effect of the quantization application of the C-SAR satellites. Moreover, our experimental results indicate that the method presented herein is suitable for the C-SAR/02 satellite and may also be more universally applicable to C-SAR-series satellites.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/2/282polarimetric calibrationactive radar calibratorSAR
spellingShingle Yanan Jiao
Fengli Zhang
Xiaochen Liu
Zhiwei Huang
Jingwen Yuan
C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators
Remote Sensing
polarimetric calibration
active radar calibrator
SAR
title C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators
title_full C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators
title_fullStr C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators
title_full_unstemmed C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators
title_short C-SAR/02 Satellite Polarimetric Calibration and Validation Based on Active Radar Calibrators
title_sort c sar 02 satellite polarimetric calibration and validation based on active radar calibrators
topic polarimetric calibration
active radar calibrator
SAR
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/2/282
work_keys_str_mv AT yananjiao csar02satellitepolarimetriccalibrationandvalidationbasedonactiveradarcalibrators
AT fenglizhang csar02satellitepolarimetriccalibrationandvalidationbasedonactiveradarcalibrators
AT xiaochenliu csar02satellitepolarimetriccalibrationandvalidationbasedonactiveradarcalibrators
AT zhiweihuang csar02satellitepolarimetriccalibrationandvalidationbasedonactiveradarcalibrators
AT jingwenyuan csar02satellitepolarimetriccalibrationandvalidationbasedonactiveradarcalibrators