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RADARSAT-2 Commercial SAR Modes RADARSAT-2 Image Quality and Calibration Update by Dan Williams, Yiman Wang, Gordon Fitzgerald, Marielle Chabot, Pierre Le Dantec, Robert Fiset, Yan Wu, Ron Caves, Kenny James, Alan Thompson, Cathy Vigneron September 7, 2016 www.mdacorporation.com Image Credits and Disclaimer Language RESTRICTION ON USE, PUBLICATION OR DISCLOSURE OF PROPRIETARY CONTENT This presentation includes content that is proprietary to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (“MDA”), its subsidiaries, and third parties. Do not disclose, use, or duplicate this document or of any of its content. MDA provides this presentation for general information purposes only, and this presentation does not constitute an offer, promise, warranty or guarantee of performance. MDA and its licensors do not authorize, and disclaim all liability for, any actions taken in reliance on this presentation. The products depicted are subject to change, and are not necessarily production representative. Actual results may vary depending on certain events or conditions. COPYRIGHT © 2016 MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., and third parties whose content has been used by permission. All rights reserved. RADARSAT-2 Data and Products © MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (2008-2016). All Rights Reserved. RADARSAT is an official mark of the Canadian Space Agency. Page(s) 6, 15, 21, 23, 29, 31-35 GENERAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Certain images contained in this document are property of third parties: Image on P. 31. COPYRIGHT © Copernicus Sentinel data for sentinel data. Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 2 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Outline • Overview of RADARSAT-2 commercial SAR modes • RADARSAT-2 Image Quality Monitoring and Calibration Status – Overview – Geolocation – Resolution – Radiometric Accuracy – Beam Pointing – Inter-Wing Phase Balance – Polarimetric Corrections – Noise Levels – Other • Sentinel-1 Mutual Interference • New Extended Low Incidence Dual-Polarized mode • Conclusion Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 3 Copyright ©2016 MDA. RADARSAT-2 Commercial SAR Modes New dual-polarization capability in Extended Low Incidence mode for improved ship detection Ref: http://mdacorporation.com/docs/default-source/technical-documents/geospatial-services/52-1238_rs2_product_description.pdf Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 4 Copyright ©2016 MDA. RADARSAT-2 Commercial SAR Modes • 20 Beam Modes – 4 ScanSAR (2 to 8 Beams) – 15 Stripmap (Single Beam) – 1 Spotlight (Steered Beam) • Swath Widths – 20-500 km • Nominal resolutions – Range: ~3 - 100 m – Azimuth: ~0.8 – 100 m • Commercial operations began April 24, 2008 – Launched December 2007 Ref: http://mdacorporation.com/docs/default-source/technical-documents/geospatial-services/52-1238_rs2_product_description.pdf Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 5 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Overview of Image Quality and Calibration • Ongoing monitoring & calibration program – Acquisitions over calibration sites – Analysis and trending of quality measures – Calibration adjustments as warranted • Ongoing work to enhance accuracy and minimize artifacts • Creation of new modes – (e.g. Dual-Pol Extended Low, Maritime Surveillance ScanSAR, Extra-Fine, Wide Quad Pol Modes) Ron Caves, Amazon Rainforest Distributed Target Measurements (Radiometric accuracy, beam patterns, beam pointing, polarimetric correction matrices, inter-wing phase balance) Other 6 (Noise levels, antenna diagnostics, local oscillator frequency, Corner Reflector and Antenna Dish Point new mode Target Measurements evaluation, issue investigations) (Resolution, sidelobe ratios, geolocation) Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 6 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Point Target Monitoring • MDA owned, precision surveyed corner reflectors in Canada – 2 in Vancouver, 2 in Quebec City • Corner reflectors in other countries – JAXA (Tomakomai, Japan) – JPL (California) – Geoscience Australia (testing in progress) – Simon Fraser University (Bolivia) – CONAE (Argentina)* – DTSO (Adelaide Australia)* – U of Zurich (Dubendorf, Switzerland)* – * past deployments • Antenna dishes in Canada – Gatineau, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, St-Hubert, Aldergrove, Masstown, Inuvik – Higher radar cross-section than corner reflectors, but less accurate • For geolocation, resolution and sidelobe measurement • Results are filtered to eliminate non-representative measurements – Dish not tracking sensor – Contamination from surrounding clutter – Snow on reflectors in winter – Ground truth accuracy limitations Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 7 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Geolocation Measurement Results (with Downlinked Orbit data, over Corner Reflectors) Excellent accuracy at downlink thanks to precision orbit determination on-board spacecraft 20 Standard 18 Quad (Far) 16 Standard 14 Quad (Near) 12 Fine Quad 10 Extra-Fine 8 6 Ultra-Fine 4 Circular Geolocation Error (m) Error Geolocation Circular 2 Spotlight 0 1/1/2010 1/1/2011 1/2/2012 1/1/2013 1/1/2014 1/1/2015 1/2/2016 1/1/2017 Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 8 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Geolocation Measurement Results (with Definitive Orbit data, over Precision Corner Reflectors, with Atmospheric Correction, since release of enhanced accuracy Definitive Orbit on 30-June-2015) Atmospheric correction was done in post-processing as a slant range correction for the dry part of the atmosphere: = 2.3m * (1/cos(incidence angle) – 1/cos(35 degrees)) Geolocation calibration is anchored at 35 degrees incidence angle Corner reflectors: MDA precision surveyed and JPL Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 9 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Geolocation Measurement Statistics • Measured location errors with Downlinked orbit data – < 6 m RMS in most Single-Beam and Spotlight modes Note: Accurate – <10 m RMS in Extended Low Incidence mode geolocation requires – <20 m RMS in ScanSAR modes accurate terrain height knowledge. These • Measured location errors with Definitive orbit data (available with ~1-2 days latency) geolocation – <2 m RMS in most Single-Beam and Spotlight modes after atmospheric correction in post-processing measurements are for calibrated corner • Generally better than the conservative accuracy values given in RADARSAT-2 Product reflectors of known Description documentation elevation. – Much better than original mission performance goals – Continues to improve through orbit accuracy, calibration and SAR processing refinements Stripmap & Spotlight modes, Downlinked Stripmap & Spotlight modes, Definitive Orbit, Orbits, Corner Reflectors, Precision Corner Reflectors, Results since Jan 1st 2012 with Atmospheric Correction, Results since Sept 7th 2015 RMS = root mean square; CE90 = circular error, 90th percentile Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 10 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Ground Range Resolution (SGX Products) Very stable (when normalized by incidence angle) Normalized resolution = resolution * sin(incidence angle) / sin(35o) 32 Wide Standard (Far) 16 Extended High Standard Quad (Far) 8 Standard (Near) Extended Low Incidence (m)Incidence o Standard Quad (Near) 4 Fine Quad Fine 2 Multi-Fine Ground Range Resolution Range Ground Wide Fine Normalized to 35 to Normalized 1 Extra-Fine Ultra-Fine Spotlight 0.5 1/1/2010 1/1/2011 1/1/2012 1/1/2013 1/1/2014 1/1/2015 1/1/2016 1/1/2017 Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 11 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Azimuth Resolution (SGX Products) Very stable 32 Wide Standard 16 Extended High Extended Low 8 Standard Quad Fine Quad 4 Fine Multi-Fine 2 Wide Fine Azimuth Resolution (m) Resolution Azimuth Extra-Fine 1 Ultra-Fine Spotlight 0.5 1/1/2010 1/1/2011 1/1/2012 1/1/2013 1/1/2014 1/1/2015 1/1/2016 1/1/2017 Use, duplication or disclosure of this document or any of the information or images contained herein is subject to the restrictions on the title page of this document. 12 Copyright ©2016 MDA. Radiometric Accuracy Monitoring (1) Amazon Reference Backscatter vs Incidence Angle -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 Co-Pol -10 -11 Cross-Pol -12 Gamma0 (dB) -13 -14 -15 10 20 30 40 50 60 Incidence Angle (deg) • The main method for monitoring absolute 0 -2 Measured Pattern Derived radiometry is through antenna elevation pattern from Amazon Scene analysis in Single Beam modes: -4 -6 Reference Pattern from – Measure backscatter profile as a function of range over a Calibration Parameters homogeneous area of the Amazon rainforest
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