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Calibration Report for ERS-1 and
ERS-2 on the Precision Processor
By Wade Albright
Alaska SAR Facility
August, 00
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................... 3
NEED FOR CALIBRATION............................................................................................................................................. 3
METHODS......................................................................................................................................................................3
RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION..................................................................................................................................... 3
PP REPORT ANALYSIS METHODS................................................................................................................................ 3
Image Quality..........................................................................................................................................................3 Radiometric Analysis..............................................................................................................................................4 Noise Analysis.........................................................................................................................................................4 Data Used for Analysis..........................................................................................................................................5
RESULTS........................................................................................................................................................................7
DISCUSSION.................................................................................................................................................................9
RADIOMETRIC ERROR.................................................................................................................................................. 9 ABSOLUT E LOCATION ACCURACY............................................................................................................................. 9 NOISE FLOOR ISSUES.................................................................................................................................................... 9
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................................9
INTRODUCTION
This document summarizes the calibration of the Alaska SAR Facility’s Precision Processor (PP) for the
satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 as of November 1999.
NEED FOR CALIBRATION
Radiometric calibration is necessary to remove the effects of errors introduced at different points in signal
collection and processing. Signal received at the antenna is gre atly affected by the antenna gain pattern.
Thermal noise bias of the signal intensity introduces errors. Gain in the system is unknown, and therefore,
image brightness is indeterminate for uncalibrated products. The Quality Assurance group at ASF
radiometrically calibrates products, correcting for the above effects, to yield products that reflect truth to
within specifications and to as narrow a statistical distribution as possible.
METHODS
RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION
Radiometric calibration is centered on the equation that converts the processor’s output digital numbers
(DN) to the target radar backscatter coefficient?0 (in dB units):
(Equation 1)
?0 = 10 log10[a2(DN2 – a1N(r) )]
Where DN is the digital number, N(r) is the noise offset as a function of range, a1 and a2 are adjustable
parameters, called the Noise Scale Factor and the Linear Conversion Factor, respectively.
If the ground target area represented in?0 is converted to projected area (from the satellite’s point of view),
then the backscatte r coefficient is constant for isotropically scattering targets. This backscatter coefficient,
?0, can be calculated by:
(Equation 2)
?0= ?0 - 10 log10(cos ?)
where? is the incidence angle.
To correct for antenna pattern effects, a file called the “Calibration Parameter File” is supplied to the
processor, which contains a1, a2, and the antenna pattern correction. Data from the rainforest is processed
by the PP and analyzed as a distributed target. The average?0 for uniform areas within the images is
calculated as a function of range and the antenna pattern correction is adjusted until?0 is constant. The
parameter a2 is varied such that the?0 value equal to the accepted value for the target (Amazon = -6.5 dB).
The parameter a1 scales the noise vector N(r), so that thermal noise bias or noise floor can be removed. The
noise floor has the shape of the antenna pattern correction because, although the noise floor is range
independent in the raw data, the processor multiplies the raw data by the inverse of the antenna pattern
correction. The parameter a1 is found by selecting targets as dark as possible, such as lakes or calm ocean,
then solving for a1= DN2 / N(r) for the lowest DN values as a function of range.
PPREPORT ANALYSIS METHODS
Image Quality
The product verification subsystem (PVS) was used to perform the majority of the image quality
calculations. Resolution, Peak to Side-Lobe Ratio (PSLR), Integrated peak to Side-Lobe Ratio (ISLR), and
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