Independent Verification of the Sentinel-1A System Calibration

In the frame of the COPERNICUS program, the main objective of the Sentinel-1 mission is to ensure the continuity of C-band SAR data for global earth monitoring. Sentinel-1A is the first of two C-band satellites launched in April 2014. In addition to the commissioning of Sentinel-1A executed by the E...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of selected topics in applied earth observations and remote sensing 2016-03, Vol.9 (3), p.994-1007
Main Authors: Schwerdt, Marco, Schmidt, Kersten, Tous Ramon, Nuria, Castellanos Alfonzo, Gabriel, Doring, Bjorn J., Zink, Manfred, Prats-Iraola, Pau
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antenna model
antenna pointing
Antennas
Calibration
calibration targets
Commissioning
Computer programs
Continuity
Contracts
European Space Agency
geometric and radiometric calibration
Instruments
internal calibration
Monitoring
radiometric accuracy
Radiometry
Sentinel-1
Stability analysis
Strategy
Synthetic aperture radar
Transponders
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Summary:In the frame of the COPERNICUS program, the main objective of the Sentinel-1 mission is to ensure the continuity of C-band SAR data for global earth monitoring. Sentinel-1A is the first of two C-band satellites launched in April 2014. In addition to the commissioning of Sentinel-1A executed by the European Space Agency (ESA), an independent verification of the system calibration has been performed by DLR under an ESA contract. For this purpose, the complete calibration chain was developed and established, starting with a calibration concept, a detailed in-orbit calibration plan and the software tools for analyzing and evaluating all the measurements up to the calibration targets serving as accurate reference. Based on an efficient calibration strategy, this paper describes the different activities performed by DLR and presents the results obtained during the commissioning phase (CP) of Sentinel-1A.
ISSN:1939-1404
2151-1535
DOI:10.1109/JSTARS.2015.2449239