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• Jehle, M
• Perler, D
• Small, D
• Schubert, A
• Meier, E
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• Jehle, M
• Perler, D
• Small, D
• Schubert, A
• Meier, E
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• Jehle, M
• Perler, D
• Small, D
• Schubert, A
• Meier, E

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Sensors 2008, 8(12), 8479-8491; doi:10.3390/s8128479

Article

Estimation of Atmospheric Path Delays in TerraSAR-X Data using Models vs. Measurements

Michael Jehle^1,* , Donat Perler² , David Small¹ , Adrian Schubert¹  and Erich Meier¹

¹ Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland ² Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, ETH Zurich, HPV G56, Schafmattstrasse 34, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 11 November 2008; in revised form: 11 December 2008 / Accepted: 12 December 2008 / Published: 19 December 2008

(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensors)

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Abstract: Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements of the Earth’s surface depend on electromagnetic waves that are subject to atmospheric path delays, in turn affecting geolocation accuracy. The atmosphere influences radar signal propagation by modifying its velocity and direction, effects which can be modeled. We use TerraSAR-X (TSX) data to investigate improvements in the knowledge of the scene geometry. To precisely estimate atmospheric path delays, we analyse the signal return of four corner reflectors with accurately surveyed positions (based on differential GPS), placed at different altitudes yet with nearly identical slant ranges to the sensor. The comparison of multiple measurements with path delay models under these geometric conditions also makes it possible to evaluate the corrections for the atmospheric path delay made by the TerraSAR processor and to propose possible improvements.

Keywords: Synthetic aperture radar; SAR; atmosphere; troposphere; ionosphere; path delay; geolocation accuracy; calibration; TerraSAR-X

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