Introduction to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology and spaceborne SAR data analysis SoSe 2024, Steffen Kuntz, Albert Remke

Since the launch of the ERS-1 and -2 satellites (1991 & 1995, respectively) and RADARSAT (1995) microwave imagery has been proven a powerful tool for Earth observation monitoring from Space. The cloud penetrating capability of spaceborne SAR (synthetic aperture radar) allows the monitoring of perpetually cloud covered regions (e.g. in the tropics or Nordic countries). Very high resolution X-band data from TerraSAR or CosmoSkyMed serve detailed infrastructure monitoring and since 2 years Sentinel-1 C-band imagery.is available for free. In addition new missions offering L-band and P-band SAR data are on the horizon. All these missions support SAR interferometry enabling three-dimensional monitoring of land surfaces independently from weather conditions.

The Seminar will provide an introduction into SAR technology (instruments, technical drivers, imagery, geometry, radiometric quality, SAR processing, formats, current and future missions etc.). Combining theory with examples from practical SAR data analysis (visualization, information extraction, map production) the seminar will provide an overview on today´s SAR capabilities leading to a better understanding of pros and cons of this technology as stand-alone information or in combination with data from optical sensors.

Since the launch of the ERS-1 and -2 satellites (1991 & 1995, respectively) and RADARSAT (1995) microwave imagery has been proven a powerful tool for Earth observation monitoring from Space. The cloud penetrating capability of spaceborne SAR (synthetic aperture radar) allows the monitoring of perpetually cloud covered regions (e.g. in the tropics or Nordic countries). Very high resolution X-band data from TerraSAR or CosmoSkyMed serve detailed infrastructure monitoring and since 2 years Sentinel-1 C-band imagery.is available for free. In addition new missions offering L-band and P-band SAR data are on the horizon. All these missions support SAR interferometry enabling three-dimensional monitoring of land surfaces independently from weather conditions.
The Seminar will provide an introduction into SAR technology (instruments, technical drivers, imagery, geometry, radiometric quality, SAR processing, formats, current and future missions etc.). Combining theory with examples from practical SAR data analysis (visualization, information extraction, map production) the seminar will provide an overview on today´s SAR capabilities leading to a better understanding of pros and cons of this technology as stand-alone information or in combination with data from optical sensors.

 Block-session 22-26 July 2024

  • Welcome

    • Introduction to Airbus Defence and Space GmbH

  • Introduction to SAR technology - Part 1

    • Optical vs. SAR remote sensing data,

    • SAR System (frequencies, polarization, noise, looks, bandwidth, incidence angle, antenna size, PRF,  imaging modes, orbits

  • Introduction to SAR technology - Part 2

    • SAR Processing (range & azimuth resolution, geocoding, radiometric vs. spatial enhancement, ambiguities, ghosts, ...)

    • Image content (grey values, texture, speckle, image distortions, time series)

    • Object backscatter (size, shape, orientation, rough-ness, neighboring)

    • Interferometry

      • Coherence

      • 3-D surface movements

      • DSMs and DEMs

  • Introduction to SAR technology - Part 3

    • SAR data analysis strategies (e.g. change detection, optical/SAR combination, combined inventories (SAR/optical/terrestrial survey)

    • Thematic SAR data analysis (land cover, infrastructure, disaster management,

    • Today´s SAR missions (TerraSAR, CosmoSkyMed, ALOS-2, RADARSAT, Sentinel-1)

    • Outlook: Future SAR missions (HRWS, Biomass, Tandem-L, HybridSAR, Excelsior, …)

  • Practical Work

    • SAR data formats

    • Introduction to SAR processing in ERDAS Imagine and ESA´s SNAP tool

    • Image processing (noise (speckle), texture, …)

    • SAR interferometry

      • Coherence images

      • 3-d surface measurements

      • DSM & DTM

    • Thematic mapping examples 

In the course of the further semester

  • Autonomous SAR data processing and analysis 

At the end of the semester (date to be agreed)

Seminar report and presentation of results (PPT presentation showing results from mapping examples)

Kurs im HIS-LSF

Semester: ST 2024