Polarimetric Distortion Analysis of L- and S-Band Airborne SAR (LS-ASAR): A Precursor Study of the Spaceborne Dual-Frequency L- and S-Band NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission †

Abstract

The polarimetric calibration (PolCal) is an essential process to ensure the minimization of distortions from airborne and spaceborne SAR data for scattering-based characterization of the targeted objects. The present study investigates the polarimetric distortions in the L-and S-band airborne dual-frequency SAR data. The L- and S-band airborne SAR (LS-ASAR) is a precursor mission of the spaceborne dual-frequency L- and S-band NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). The present work utilizes the LS-ASAR data acquired over the Rosamond Corner Reflector Array (RCRA). The polarimetric signature analysis of co-pol and cross-pol channels shows that perfect behavior is shown by the co-pol signature but the distortions could be easily identified in the cross-pol signatures.