Calibration of a polarimetric radar using a rotatable dihedralcorner reflector

Based on the existing mathematical formalisms of radar polarimetry, it is necessary to perform accurate and diversified polarimetric measurements in the real world to thoroughly investigate signature definition, identification, and classification of radar targets. For this study the Delft Atmospheric Research Radar (DARR) is used. This ground-based polarimetric FM-CW radar operates in the S-band. The purpose of the present paper is the polarimetric calibration of the DARR. Among the passive reflectors, a rotatable dihedral corner reflector is a suitable calibration object. It enables one to measure different scattering matrices with only one reflector. One alignment must be performed and the scattering matrices are measured at the same range. By measuring several scattering matrices, the accuracy of the calibration result can be estimated. A measurement campaign with a rotatable dihedral corner reflector was therefore performed. The experimental results and the calibration procedure are presented in this paper     

A new calibration algorithm of wide-band polarimetric measurementsystem

The principle and experimental results of a new self-consistent calibration algorithm for a wideband polarimetric scattering measurement system are presented. The calibration targets include a flat plate, a dihedral corner reflector, and a rotated dihedral corner reflector. The rotation angle of the third calibrator can be derived in the calibration process and used to verify the calibration performance. Experimental results show that the calculated rotation angle of the third calibrator over the operation bandwidth is in good agreement with its actual angle, hence it provides a self-consistent parameter of the calibration algorithm. Based on the signal-to-noise consideration, an optimal rotation angle for a dihedral corner reflector is found to be 22.5°. This calibration technique is also useful in characterizing the frequency and polarization responses of dual-polarization antennas     

Calibration of a polarimetric imaging SAR

Calibration using point targets is discussed. The fourport network calibration technique is used to describe the radar error model. The processor ambiguity function and the radar distortion matrices are combined to form a generalized polarimetric ambiguity function. The polarimetric ambiguity function of the SAR is found using a single point target, namely a trihedral corner reflector. Based on the resultant polarimetric ambiguity function, an estimate for the backscattering coefficient of the terrain is found using a modified version of the single target calibration technique (STCT). A radar image recorded by the JPL aircraft SAR, which includes a variety of point targets, is used for verification of the new calibration method. The calibrated responses of the point targets are compared both with theory and responses based on the POLCAL technique     

Measuring the propagation properties of a forest canopy using apolarimetric scatterometer

A truck-mounted 1.6-GHz polarimetric scatterometer was used from a 19-m high platform to measure the backscattering from a dense canopy of pine trees at an incidence angle of 40°. Two sets of measurements were made at each of many spatial locations, one set with and the other without a trihedral corner reflector present on the ground surface underneath the canopy. From the two sets of polarimetric measurements, it was possible to determine the mean values and the statistical distributions of the canopy attenuation factors for horizontal and vertical polarizations. The mean values of the one-way attenuation factors were found to be 9.31 dB for horizontal polarization and 9.16 dB for vertical polarization. The precision associated with the values of the canopy loss factor measured using the polarimetric technique is estimated to be on the order of ±0.3 dB     

Calibration of bistatic polarimetric radar systems

A calibration technique for laboratory type polarimetric, bistatic instrumentation radars is presented. It describes the errors induced by the standard radiation transfer approach (I-SRT) in a way similar to that for the monostatic case. A 12-term error correction and absolute polarimetric calibration is performed with two external reference targets. Only the polarimetric bistatic reference of the first target must be theoretically determined. The scattering reference of the second target is determined by a measurement during the calibration process (single reference calibration). The simulation of a third cross-polarization measurement is performed by an antenna rotation and a remeasurement of the second target. Thus all data are gained for the determination of the error terms and measurements of unknown objects can be full polarimetrically calibrated. The procedures are shown for an adapted dihedral corner reflector. Misalignment errors are discussed     

Cross-calibration experiment of JPL AIRSAR and truck-mountedpolarimetric scatterometer

When point calibration targets are used to calibrate a SAR image, the calibration accuracy is governed by two major factors. The first factor stems from the stringent requirement on the radar cross section (RCS) of the point calibration target. To reduce the effect of radar return from the background, the RCS of a point calibration target must be much larger than that of the background. Calibration targets with large RCS require large physical dimensions for passive targets or high amplifier gain for active targets, which in practice leads to uncertainty in the nominal RCS of the targets. The second factor is related to the fact that point calibration targets are used to develop a calibration algorithm which is applied to distributed targets. To this end, accurate knowledge of the impulse response (ambiguity function) of the SAR system is required. To evaluate the accuracy of such a calibration process, a cross-calibration experiment was conducted at a test site near Pellston, MI, using the JPL aircraft SAR and the University of Michigan truck-mounted polarimetric scatterometer. Five different types of distributed surfaces, all in the same area, were chosen: three of these were bare surfaces with varying roughnesses, and the other two were covered with vegetation. Trihedral corner reflectors were used for calibrating the aircraft SAR, and the UM scatterometer was calibrated using a metallic sphere. The scatterometer data were collected at L and C bands immediately after the aircraft flew over the test site. This paper presents results of the cross calibration between the polarimetric SAR and ground-based polarimetric scatterometer measurements at L and C bands. Comparison of the data measured by the two radar systems shows that SAR calibration with trihedrals may lead to unreliable results. A distributed-target calibration technique is introduced and applied to the data with good results     

A 225 GHz polarimetric radar

An incoherent 225-GHz polarimetric radar capable of measuring the Mueller matrix of point and distributed targets is described. The transmitter employs an extended interaction oscillator that transmit 60-W pulses of 50- to 600-ns duration. Incoherent measurements of the Mueller matrix are achieved by transmitting four linearly independent polarizations and measuring the scattered wave using a dual-polarized receiver. A novel calibration technique that requires a single in-scene reflector is presented. Polarimetric measurements are presented of a dihedral corner reflector and foliage which are the first polarimetric measurements reported at this wavelength. The foliage measurements indicate a pronounced sensitivity of the polarimetric data to fine-scale surface structure     

利用点目标进行SAR辐射定标的方法研究

SAR辐射定标是一项关联图像像素值和地物后向散射系数的重要工作。由于角反射器具有稳定、大的散射截面积和在较宽的角度范围内散射截面积变化较小,因而成为重要的点目标定标器。研究利用已知散射截面积的三面体角反射器来计算不同地物的后向散射系数、系统定标常数和系统总的传递函数的方法,并通过大量实测SAR数据进行了定标实验。理论分析和实验结果表明,利用点目标进行SAR辐射定标具有简单、实用、精度较高的优点。     

Full-wave investigation of a corner reflector proposed as referenceline target for automotive applications

The backscattering property of the 90° dihedral corner reflector is exploited to define a distributed target for automotive applications. In the analysis, the scatterer is described as a junction among three radial waveguides and the problem is solved by applying the mode-matching technique in a convenient matrix form. Once the structure is characterized in terms of a multimodal scattering matrix, the evaluation of the scattered fields at any observation point is straightforward     

Dual-channel and multifrequency radar system calibration

Uncertainty in absolute gain and crosstalk factors are the primary sources of error in dual-channel radar measurements. A full two-port calibration technique compensates for the errors introduced due to an imperfect antenna system and improves the isolation between orthogonal polarization channels as long as the observed cross section is above the equivalent system noise cross section. A novel technique for calibrating a dual-polarized network analyzer-based scatterometer system is discussed. Rigorous two-port S-parameter representation is used to describe absolute gain and crosstalk characteristics. Validity of the crosstalk correction is demonstrated by measuring the point target scattering matrix. Correction factors are obtained by measuring the S-parameters of trihedral and dihedral corner reflectors of known sizes. Results of absolute gain of the antenna system are verified using independent test target cross section measurements     

Polarimetric calibration of SIR-C using point and distributedtargets

In preparation for the Shuttle Imaging Radar-C/XSAR (SIR-C/XSAR) flights, the University of Michigan has been involved in the development of calibration procedures and precision calibration devices to quantify the complex radar images with an accuracy of 0.5 dB in magnitude and 5 degrees in phase. In this paper, the preliminary results of the SIR-C calibration and a summary of the University of Michigan's activity in the Raco calibration super-site is presented. In this calibration campaign an array of point calibration targets including trihedral corner reflectors and polarimetric active radar calibrators (PARCs) in addition to a uniform distributed target were used for characterizing the radiometric calibration constant and the distortion parameters of the C-band SAR. Two different calibration methods, one based on the application of point targets and the other based on the application of the distributed target, are used to calibrate the SIR-C data and the results are compared with calibrated images provided by JPL. The distributed target used in this experiment was a field of grass, sometimes covered with snow, whose differential Mueller matrix was measured immediately after the SIR-C overpass using The University of Michigan polarimetric scatterometer systems. The scatterometers were calibrated against a precision metallic sphere and measured 100 independent spatial samples for characterizing the differential Mueller matrix of the distributed target to achieve the desired calibration accuracy. The L-band SAR has not yet been adequately calibrated for inclusion here     

Evaluation of several shaped dihedrals useful for polarimetriccalibration

Calculation, measurement and improvement of two-bounce passive reflectors designed for the external cross-calibration of linearly polarized polarimetric radars are addressed. Derived from the standard right angled dihedral, the reflectors under consideration are designed so that they have broad Co- and X-pol backscattering diagrams. These broad beamwidths are highly required for in situ SAR calibration, where uncertainties on the direction of flight and incidence angle may exist. Several examples are discussed. The first part is concerned with the standard dihedral which is made of two orthogonal conducting plates. Due to the narrow X-pol backscattering beamwidth of this type of dihedral, X-pol channels calibration is harder to achieve, especially outside laboratory. Therefore, dihedrals with elliptical vertex, including the circular case, are studied. The results are compared with the standard dihedral. Subsequently, simulations conducted on this type of target have determined the vertex ellipticity influence on the Co- and X-pol backscattering diagrams. Finally the authors set up a synthesis process to design an optimal shaped dihedral as long as the X-pol backscattering diagram is required to be as flat and as wide as possible. The optimization leads to an helicoidal vertex. Advantages and drawbacks for each kind of structures are also discussed     

Radar polarimeter measures orientation of calibration corner reflectors

We have analyzed radar polarimeter signals from a set of trihedral corner reflectors located in the Goldstone Dry Lake in Cafifornia, and observed three types of scattering behavior: i) Bragg-like slightly rough surface scattering that represents the background signal from the dry lake, ii) trihedral corner reflector scattering that returns the incident polarization, and iii) two-bounce corner reflector scattering resulting from a particular alignment of a trihedral reflector. In the latter case, we can measure within about 3° the orientation angle of the apparent dihedral trough, even though the 2-m reflector is much smaller than the 10-m resolution element of our radar. Thus a radar calibration approach using trihedral corner reflectors should be designed such that precise alignment of the reflectors is ensured, as three-bounce and two-bounce geometries lead to very different cross sections and hence very different inferred calibration factors.     

Characteristics of a crossed-wire scatterer without a junction point of an incident wave of circular polarization

A crossed-wire scatterer has the wires displaced in the backscattering direction, and is able to scatter an incident wave of circular polarization in such a way that the backscattering wave has the same rotational sense as that of the incident wave. The radiation performance of the scatterer is improved by bending the horizontal and the vertical wires. Arrays consisting of crossed-wire scatterers are constructed and the backscattering cross sections (BSCS's) are calculated. It is revealed that the increase in the current amplitude due to the mutual effects among the array elements contributes to enhancement in the BSCS. It is also shown that a maximum value of the BSCS of an array of3 times 3bent crossed-wire scatterers is 1.8 times as large as that of a dihedral corner reflector which has the same aperture area. The BSCS's as a function of the angle of incidence are presented with experimental results at a frequency of 9.375 GHz.     

基于极化定标的极化隔离度空变分析

极化定标是多极化合成孔径雷达(PolSAR)系统获取真实目标极化散射矩阵的必要步骤。文中针对极化定标过程中存在的极化隔离度距离向空变特性,采用基于无源角反射器的极化定标算法作为仿真工具,对PolSAR系统极化隔离度绝对值及其空变范围对图像中极化隔离度的影响规律进行了分析。分析结果表明:当用于极化修正的极化误差矩阵与PolSAR系统自身极化隔离度不匹配时,极化修正将会使得修正后的图像极化隔离度变差。因此,在进行极化定标时,应当尽可能在定标场沿距离向布设一定间距的多组定标器,从而获取PolSAR系统在整个距离向成像带宽内的极化隔离度拟合曲线,在进行极化修正时对图像中距离向不同的像素点采用曲线中对应位置的极化误差矩阵进行修正,进而得到尽可能接近目标真实极化散射矩阵的估计值。     

A complete error model for free space polarimetric measurements

The authors present a complete 12-term error model for the systematic errors in polarimetric radar and antenna free space measurements for test range and laboratory use. Errors are induced by the frequency response, the channel imbalance, the coupling between the transmit channels, the coupling between the receive channels, the coupling from transmit to receive and by the residual reflections of the environment. The errors are contained in three 2×2 matrices, the isolation matrix, the transmit matrix and the receive matrix. A full polarimetric calibration with the empty room, a sphere, a vertical dihedral corner and a 45° dihedral corner is proposed. The physical understanding is supported by a cubic signal graph for the error terms     

A calibration technique for polarimetric coherent-on-receive radarsystems

A new technique for calibrating a coherent-on-receive polarimetric radar system is proposed. A coherent-on-receive polarimetric radar is capable of measuring the Mueller matrix of point or distributed targets directly by transmitting at least four independent polarizations and measuring the vertical and horizontal components of the backscatter signal simultaneously. The technique requires the use of two calibration targets, a target with known scattering matrix (such as a metallic sphere or a trihedral corner reflector) and any depolarizing target (for which knowledge of its scattering matrix is not required) to determine the system distortion parameters. The system distortion parameters, which include the channel imbalances, the cross-talk factors of both the transmit and the receive antennas, and the phase shifts and amplitude variations of the transmitter polarizers, are determined by measuring the calibration targets for four different transmit polarizations. The validity of the new calibration technique is examined by measuring the scattering matrices of spheres and cylinders as test targets using a coherent-on-receive radar operating at 34.5 GHz. Excellent agreement between the theoretical and the measured scattering matrices for the test targets are obtained     

On the calibration of the helicopter borne polarimetric radar René

The cetp and Thomson- csf have developed in 1992 a new polarimetric fm/cw X- band radar which has been designed to be easily mounted on small helicopter or aircraft. As it is devoted to research investigations on radar polarimetry applied to land and vegetation remote sensing, it needs to be calibrated in phase and amplitude with a very good accuracy. A calibration procedure using trihedral and dihedral corner reflectors is presented here and then compared to the calibration method using random distributed targets that has been developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A very good agreement between both methods enables us to apply our calibration algorithms to natural surfaces measurements at different incidence angles (20°, 40° and 50°.     

高超声速飞行器翼身二面角结构的雷达散射截面分析

飞行器翼身接合部构成的二面角反射器是很强的电磁散射源。但是传统的计算方法仅仅适用于理想二面角反射器。该文采用几何光学法和物理光学法分析矩形二面角反射器的多次反射,在照明宽度概念的基础上,提出了等效照明面积的概念。通过对等效照明面积的分析,给出了能计算任意平面形状、有遮挡效应的二面角反射器后向雷达散射截面的工程方法。通过对某高超声速飞行器翼身结合段雷达散射截面的计算,验证了该方法的正确性。     

The gridded trihedral: a new polarimetric SAR calibration reflector

The characteristics of the gridded trihedral used to calibrate polarimetric synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) systems are considered. The gridded trihedral is a normal trihedral with one of the conducting faces replaced with a grid of closely spaced (relative to a wavelength) parallel conductors over a layer of microwave absorber. This grid changes the incident wave's polarization and results in a calibration target with a significant cross-polarized reflection. The advantages of the gridded trihedral are that it has a broad backscatter beamwidth (unlike the dihedral), and that it is passive and simple to construct (unlike the active radar calibrator, or ARC). The performance characteristics of the gridded trihedral reflector are reviewed, using basic theoretical models and calibrated P-3 SAR imagery