RADARSAT-2 SAR image quality and calibration operations

The RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system is designed to provide a much wider variety of imaging options than RADARSAT-1, and it is the intention that data from all these modes be radiometrically calibrated. The scale of the calibration task for the mission is increased further by the inclusion of multipolarization capabilities. These capabilities make it necessary to perform separate radiometric calibration of each polarization channel and also to perform polarimetric calibration for quad-polarization modes to ensure that accurate polarimetric signatures are provided. This note describes the infrastructure that has been designed to support the image quality and calibration operations and the procedures that are planned to establish the required radiometric and polarimetric calibration information. Images of the Amazon area are used as the primary data for generation of this calibration information. The calibration analysis is performed in an image quality subsystem that contains an analysis workstation designed specifically to support these operations. The calibration information will be provided in the form of payload characterization parameters files and will be incorporated into the image products in the processing and distribution subsystem.