A copy of Guangbo jiemu bao [Broadcast Program Report] was being passed from hand to hand among a group of young people eager to be the first to read the article introducing the program "What Is Revolutionary Love?" It said: "… Young friends, you are certainly very concerned about this problem'. So, we would like you to meet the young women workers Meng Xiaoyu and Meng Yamei and the older cadre Miss Feng. They are the three leading characters in the short story ‘The Place of Love.’ Through the description of the love lives of these three, the story induces us to think deeply about two questions that merit further examination.

This is How the Discussion Started

Computer and Robot Vision Vol. 1, by R.M. Haralick and Linda G. Shapiro, Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN 0-201-10887-1.

Computer and Robot Vision

TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for digital elevation measurements) is an innovative spaceborne radar interferometer that is based on two TerraSAR-X radar satellites flying in close formation. The primary objective of the TanDEM-X mission is the generation of a consistent global digital elevation model (DEM) with an unprecedented accuracy, which is equaling or surpassing the HRTI-3 specification. Beyond that, TanDEM-X provides a highly reconfigurable platform for the demonstration of new radar imaging techniques and applications. This paper gives a detailed overview of the TanDEM-X mission concept which is based on the systematic combination of several innovative technologies. The key elements are the bistatic data acquisition employing an innovative phase synchronization link, a novel satellite formation flying concept allowing for the collection of bistatic data with short along-track baselines, as well as the use of new interferometric modes for system verification and DEM calibration. The interferometric performance is analyzed in detail, taking into account the peculiarities of the bistatic operation. Based on this analysis, an optimized DEM data acquisition plan is derived which employs the combination of multiple data takes with different baselines. Finally, a collection of instructive examples illustrates the capabilities of TanDEM-X for the development and demonstration of new remote sensing applications.

/pdf/tandem-x-a-satellite-formation-for-high-resolution-sar-z54xhync6a.pdf

TanDEM-X: A Satellite Formation for High-Resolution SAR Interferometry

In this paper, we examine the role of polarimetry in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. We first propose a general formulation for vector wave interferometry that includes conventional scalar interferometry as a special case. Then, we show how polarimetric basis transformations can be introduced into SAR interferometry and applied to form interferograms between all possible linear combinations of polarization states. This allows us to reveal the strong polarization dependency of the interferometric coherence. We then solve the coherence optimization problem involving maximization of interferometric coherence and formulate a new coherent decomposition for polarimetric SAR interferometry that allows the separation of the effective phase centers of different scattering mechanisms. A simplified stochastic scattering model for an elevated forest canopy is introduced to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. In this way, we demonstrate the importance of wave polarization for the physical interpretation of SAR interferograms. We investigate the potential of polarimetric SAR interferometry using results from the evaluation of fully polarimetric interferometric shuttle imaging radar (SIR)-C/X-SAR data collected during October 8-9, 1994, over the SE Baikal Lake Selenga delta region of Buriatia, Southeast Siberia, Russia.

Polarimetric SAR interferometry

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/4768668/4784008/04784017.pdf

TanDEM-X: A satellite formation for high-resolution SAR interferometry

Ionospheric propagation effects have a significant impact on the signal properties of low-frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Range delay, interferometric phase bias, range defocusing, and Faraday rotation are the most prominent ones. All the effects are a function of the so-called total electron content (TEC). Methods based on two-frequency global positioning system observations allow measuring TEC in the ionosphere with coarse spatial resolution only. In this letter, the potential of broadband L-band SAR systems for ionospheric TEC mapping is studied. As a basis, the dispersive nature of the ionosphere and its effects on broadband microwave radiation are theoretically derived and analyzed. It is shown that phase advance and group delay can be measured by interferometric and correlation techniques, respectively. The achievable accuracy suffices in mapping small-scale ionospheric TEC disturbances. A differential TEC estimator that separates ionospheric from tropospheric contributions is proposed

The Potential of Low-Frequency SAR Systems for Mapping Ionospheric TEC Distributions

Bangladesh is one of the most flood-affected countries in the world. In the last few decades, flood frequency, intensity, duration, and devastation have increased in Bangladesh. Identifying flood-damaged areas is highly essential for an effective flood response. This study aimed at developing an operational methodology for rapid flood inundation and potential flood damaged area mapping to support a quick and effective event response. Sentinel-1 images from March, April, June, and August 2017 were used to generate inundation extents of the corresponding months. The 2017 pre-flood land cover maps were prepared using Landsat-8 images to identify major land cover on the ground before flooding. The overall accuracy of flood inundation mapping was 96.44% and the accuracy of the land cover map was 87.51%. The total flood inundated area corresponded to 2.01%, 4.53%, and 7.01% for the months April, June, and August 2017, respectively. Based on the Landsat-8 derived land cover information, the study determined that cropland damaged by floods was 1.51% in April, 3.46% in June, 5.30% in August, located mostly in the Sylhet and Rangpur divisions. Finally, flood inundation maps were distributed to the broader user community to aid in hazard response. The data and methodology of the study can be replicated for every year to map flooding in Bangladesh.

Operational Flood Mapping Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-1 SAR Images: A Case Study from Bangladesh

With the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor PALSAR onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite, a new full-polarimetric spaceborne L-band SAR instrument has been launched into orbit. At L-band, Faraday rotation (FR) can reach significant values, degrading the quality of the received SAR data. One-way rotations exceeding 25 deg are likely to happen during the lifetime of PALSAR, which will significantly reduce the accuracy of geophysical parameter recovery if uncorrected. Therefore, the estimation and correction of FR effects is a prerequisite for data quality and continuity. In this paper, methods for estimating FR are presented and analyzed. The first unambiguous detection of FR in SAR data is presented. A set of real data examples indicates the quality and sensitivity of FR estimation from PALSAR data, allowing the measurement of FR with high precision in areas where such measurements were previously inaccessible. In examples, we present the detection of kilometer-scale ionospheric disturbances, a spatial scale that is not detectable by ground-based GPS measurements. An FR prediction method is presented and validated. Approaches to correct for the estimated FR effects are applied, and their effectiveness is tested on real data.

Prediction, Detection, and Correction of Faraday Rotation in Full-Polarimetric L-Band SAR Data

Standard synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing algorithms use analytically derived transfer functions in the 2D frequency and range/Doppler domains. These rely on the assumption of hyperbolic range histories of monostatic SARs with straight flight paths. For bistatic SARs, the range histories are no longer hyperbolic, and simple analytic transforms do not exist. This paper offers two solutions for bistatic SAR data processing under the restriction of quasi-stationarity, i.e., sufficiently equal velocity vectors of transmitter and receiver. 1) Moderately bistatic configurations can be handled satisfactorily by using hyperbolic range functions with a modified velocity parameter, which is a solution already well known for the accommodation of curved orbits in the monostatic case. This "equivalent velocity" approach is shown to be of surprising range of validity even for pronounced bistatic situations. It is not to be confused with the "equivalent monostatic flight path" approximation, which is shown to be inapplicable for any practical case. 2) With increasing separation of transmitter and receiver, the equivalent velocity approximation deteriorates. To cope with extreme bistatic configurations, a general approach named "NuSAR" is proposed, where the involved transfer functions are replaced by numerically computed ones. This paper describes how the transfer functions are computed from the given orbits and the shape of the Earth surface. In any of these two cases, the bistatic SAR data can be processed by standard SAR processors; only the conventional transfer functions need to be replaced. Neither are there time-domain prefocusing or post focusing steps required nor complicated mathematical expansions involved. The presented algorithms are also applicable to very high resolution wide-swath (or squinted) SARs on curved orbits.

Processing of Bistatic SAR Data From Quasi-Stationary Configurations

Radio frequency interference (RFI) is a known issue in low-frequency radar remote sensing. In synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image processing, RFI can cause severe degradation of image quality, distortion of polarimetric signatures, and an increase of the SAR phase noise level. To address this issue, a processing system was developed that is capable of reliably detecting, characterizing, and mitigating RFI signatures in SAR observations. In addition to being the basis for image correction, the robust RFI-detection algorithms developed in this paper are used to retrieve a wealth of RFI-related information that allows for mapping, characterizing, and classifying RFI signatures across large spatial scales. The extracted RFI information is expected to be valuable input for SAR-system design, sensor operations, and the development of effective RFI-mitigation strategies. The concepts of RFI detection, analysis, and mapping are outlined. Large-scale RFI mapping results are shown. In case studies, the benefit of detailed RFI information for customized RFI filtering and sensor operations is exemplified.

Franz J. Meyer

Papers

The Potential of Low-Frequency SAR Systems for Mapping Ionospheric TEC Distributions

Operational Flood Mapping Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-1 SAR Images: A Case Study from Bangladesh

Prediction, Detection, and Correction of Faraday Rotation in Full-Polarimetric L-Band SAR Data

Processing of Bistatic SAR Data From Quasi-Stationary Configurations

Correction and Characterization of Radio Frequency Interference Signatures in L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar Data