Synthetic aperture radar target simulator

A simulator for simulating the radar return, or echo, from a target seen by a SAR antenna mounted on a platform moving with respect to the target is described. It includes a first-in first-out memory which has digital information clocked in at a rate related to the frequency of a transmitted radar signal and digital information clocked out with a fixed delay defining range between the SAR and the simulated target, and at a rate related to the frequency of the return signal. An RF input signal having a frequency similar to that utilized by a synthetic aperture array radar is mixed with a local oscillator signal to provide a first baseband signal having a frequency considerably lower than that of the RF input signal

Estimating the Permanent Loss of Groundwater Storage in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, California

In the San Joaquin Valley, California, recent droughts starting in 2007 have increased the pumping of groundwater, leading to widespread subsidence. In the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, vertical subsidence as high as 85 cm has been observed between June 2007 and December 2010 using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). This study seeks to map regions where inelastic (not recoverable) deformation occurred during the study period, resulting in permanent compaction and loss of groundwater storage. We estimated the amount of permanent compaction by incorporating multiple data sets: the total deformation derived from InSAR, estimated skeletal-specific storage and hydraulic parameters, geologic information, and measured water levels during our study period. We used two approaches, one that we consider to provide an estimate of the lowest possible amount of inelastic deformation, and one that provides a more reasonable estimate. These two approaches resulted in a spatial distribution of values for the percentage of the total deformation that was inelastic, with the former estimating a spatially averaged value of 54%, and the latter a spatially averaged value of 98%. The former corresponds to the permanent loss of 4.14*108 m3 of groundwater storage, or roughly 5% of the volume of groundwater used over the study time period; the latter corresponds to the loss of 7.48*108 m3 of groundwater storage, or roughly 9% of the volume of groundwater used. This study demonstrates that a data-driven approach can be used effectively to estimate the permanent loss of groundwater storage

An icon-based synoptic visualization of fully polarimetric radar data

The visualization of fully polarimetric radar data is hindered by traditional remote sensing methodologies for displaying data due to the large number of parameters per pixel in such data, and the non-scalar nature of variables such as phase difference. In this paper, a new method is described that uses icons instead of image pixels to represent the image data so that polarimetric properties and geographic context can be visualized together. The icons are parameterized using the alpha-entropy decomposition of polarimetric data. The resulting image allows the following five variables to be displayed simultaneously: unpolarized power, alpha angle, polarimetric entropy, anisotropy and orientation angle. Examples are given for both airborne and laboratory-based imaging

The Earthlike Shoreline Morphology of Titan's Ontario Lacus

Ontario Lacus' shoreline features include Earth-like rivers, deltas and flooded topography. Ontario is a dynamic lake, similar in many ways to terrestrial lakes, with active shoreline processes

Avaliação do potencial da interferometria sar para o mapeamento altimétrico de áreas reflorestadas por eucalyptus sp

Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar a qualidade altimétrica dos modelos de elevação (MDE) gerados através da interferometria SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar nas bandas X e P, em diferentes polarizações em áreas florestadas. Este estudo foi realizado no município de Pindamonhangaba/SP, em uma área caracterizada por reflorestamento de Eucalyptus saligna de 6 anos de idade, cujo inventario florestal e levantamento topográfico foram realizados no mesmo período do aerolevantamento. Verificou-se que nesta área florestada o modelo de elevação da superfície do dossel empregando a interferometria na banda X, gerou produtos cartográficos de precisão inferior a esperada, com desvio padrão na ordem 2,7 metros. A utilização de um modelo de regressão, que combinou a coerência interferométrica e o MDE, compensou os erros de medida da altura da vegetação, melhorando a qualidade do produto cartográfico para desvio padrão da ordem de 1,4 metro atingindo a resolução altimétrica desejada. Os modelos de elevação do terreno na banda P, polarização HH, em áreas florestadas apresentaram similaridade com os dados do levantamento topográfico, com desvio padrão na ordem de 1,97 metro, devido à maior penetração do feixe do radar na floresta de Eucalyptus e conseqüentemente uma maior interação com o solo do que com as árvores. O modelo de elevação do solo na banda X em áreas de pasto apresentou um desvio padrão de 0,6 metro, cuja escala de mapeamento foi compatível com a resolução empregada, enquanto que os modelos de elevação na banda P apresentaram um valor de desvio padrão de 6 a 20 metros conforme a polarização, devido ao espalhamento especular, causando uma baixa relação sinal/ruído

Astrometry and geodesy with radio interferometry: experiments, models, results

Summarizes current status of radio interferometry at radio frequencies between Earth-based receivers, for astrometric and geodetic applications. Emphasizes theoretical models of VLBI observables that are required to extract results at the present accuracy levels of 1 cm and 1 nanoradian. Highlights the achievements of VLBI during the past two decades in reference frames, Earth orientation, atmospheric effects on microwave propagation, and relativity.Comment: 83 pages, 19 Postscript figures. To be published in Rev. Mod. Phys., Vol. 70, Oct. 199

Polarimetric SAR Image Segmentation with B-Splines and a New Statistical Model

We present an approach for polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image region boundary detection based on the use of B-Spline active contours and a new model for polarimetric SAR data: the GHP distribution. In order to detect the boundary of a region, initial B-Spline curves are specified, either automatically or manually, and the proposed algorithm uses a deformable contours technique to find the boundary. In doing this, the parameters of the polarimetric GHP model for the data are estimated, in order to find the transition points between the region being segmented and the surrounding area. This is a local algorithm since it works only on the region to be segmented. Results of its performance are presented