Microwave Remote Sensing
M.Navamuniyammal
Microwave remote sensing, using microwave radiation using
wavelengths from about 1mm to 1m enables observation in
all weather conditions without any restriction by cloud or
rain.
The ability of microwave to penetrate clouds, precipitation, or
land surface cover depends on its frequency. Generally, the
penetration power increases for longer wavelength (lower
frequency).
If the surface fluctuation is less than the microwave wavelength, then
the surface is considered smooth. For example, little radiation is
backscattered from a surface with a fluctuation of the order of 5 cm if
a L-band (15 to 30 cm wavelength) SAR is used and the surface will
appear dark. However, the same surface will appear bright due to
increased backscattering in a X-band (2.4 to 3.8 cm wavelength) SAR
image.
Both the ERS and RADARSAT SARs use the C band microwave while the JERS SAR uses
the L band. The C band is useful for imaging ocean and ice features. However, it also
finds numerous land applications. The L band has a longer wavelength and is more
penetrating than the C band. Hence, it is more useful in forest and vegetation study as
it is able to penetrate deeper into the vegetation canopy.
When microwaves strike a surface, the proportion of energy scattered
back to the sensor depends on many factors:
Physical factors such as the dielectric constant of the surface
materials which also depends strongly on the moisture content;
Geometric factors such as surface roughness, slopes, orientation of
the objects relative to the radar beam direction;
The types of landcover (soil, vegetation or man-made objects).
Microwave frequency, polarisation and incident angle.
Little radiation is backscattered from a surface with a fluctuation of the
order of 5 cm if a L-band (15 to 30 cm wavelength) SAR is used and the
surface will appear dark. However, the same surface will appear bright
due to increased backscattering in a X-band (2.4 to 3.8 cm wavelength)
SAR image.
In real aperture radar imaging, the ground resolution is
limited by the size of the microwave beam sent out from
the antenna. Finer details on the ground can be resolved
by using a narrower beam. The beam width is inversely
proportional to the size of the antenna, i.e. the longer the
antenna, the narrower the beam.
It is not feasible for a spacecraft to carry a very long antenna which
is required for high resolution imaging of the earth surface. To
overcome this limitation, SAR capitalizes on the motion of the
space craft to emulate a large antenna (about 4 km for the ERS
SAR) from the small antenna (10 m on the ERS satellite) it actually
carries on board.
Types of radar:
• Nonimaging radar
Traffic police use hand held Doppler radar system determine the
speed by measuring frequency shift between transmitted and return
microwave signal
Plan position indicator (PPI) radars use a rotating antenna to
detect targets over a circular area, such as NEXRD
Satellite-based radar altimeters (low spatial resolution but high
vertical resolution)
• Imaging radar – Usually high spatial resolution, – Consists of a
transmitter, a receiver, one or more
Radar
RADAR Basics
a radar is essentially a ranging or
distance measuring device.
-transmitter, a receiver, an antenna,
and an electronics system to process
and record the data.
-By measuring the time delay between
the transmission of a pulse and the
reception of the backscattered "echo"
from different targets, their distance
from the radar and thus their location
can be determined
(range) distances
inferred from time
elapsed between
transmission of a
signal and reception
of the returned
signal
When discussing microwave energy, the polarization of the
radiation is also important. Polarization refers to the orientation of
the electric field
• HH - for horizontal transmit and horizontal receive,
• VV - for vertical transmit and vertical receive,
• HV - for horizontal transmit and vertical receive, and
• VH - for vertical transmit and horizontal receive.
Viewing Geometry and Spatial Resolution
The imaging geometry of a radar system is different from the framing and scanning
systems commonly employed for optical remote sensing. Similar to optical systems,
the platform travels forward in the flight direction (A) with the nadir (B)
directly beneath the platform.
The microwave beam is transmitted
obliquely at right angles to the
direction of flight illuminating
a swath (C) which is offset from nadir.
Range (D) refers to the across-track dimension
perpendicular to the flight direction, while
azimuth (E) refers to the along-track dimension
parallel to the flight direction. This side-looking
viewing geometry is typical of imaging radar
systems (airborne or space borne)
C
The portion of the image swath closest to
the nadir track of the radar platform is
called the near range (A) while the portion
of the swath farthest from the nadir is
called the far range(B).
Radar Image Distortions
Slant range scale distortion
Radar foreshortening and layover
Radar shadow effects
Imaging RADAR system
Near Range
Far Range
Depression angle
Incidence angle
Look angle
Slant range distance
Ground range distance
Back scatter
RAR
SAR
Image Distortions
antenna pattern
foreshortening
Layover
corner reflector
Radar Shadow
Speckle
multi-look processing,
or
spatial filtering.
