Multi ^Scat-A Helicopter-Based Scatterometer for Snow-Cover and Sea-Ice Investigations

• Published in: IEEE geoscience and remote sensing letters Vol. 6; no. 4; pp. 703 - 707
• Main Authors: Kern, S., Brath, M., Fontes, R., Gade, M., Gurgel, K.-W., Kaleschke, L., Spreen, G., Schulz, S., Winderlich, A., Stammer, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.10.2009; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Backscatter; Backscattering; Cameras; Doppler; Doppler effect; Doppler radar; Frequency measurement; Infrared (IR) imaging; Marine; Ocean temperature; Radar; radar cross section; Radar imaging; Radar measurements; Remote sensing; Scatterometers; sea ice; Sea measurements; Sea surface; snow; Stability
• ISSN: 1545-598X; 1558-0571
• DOI: 10.1109/LGRS.2009.2023823

A helicopter-based Doppler scatterometer (Multi 3 Scat) is described. It allows simultaneous measurements of the surface radar backscatter at five different frequencies at co- and cross-polarization at incidence angles of 20 deg -65 deg from an altitude of 30-300 m. Video and infrared (IR) cameras simultaneously sense the surface in the scatterometers' footprint. The Multi 3 Scat is calibrated using measurements carried out over corner reflectors. The stability of the Multi 3 Scat's signal is found to be, on average, better than 0.5 dB. Typical signal-to-noise-ratio values for sigma-0 range between 10 and 20 dB for cross-polarization and between 15 and 25 dB for copolarization over snow and ice surfaces. The potential of the Multi 3 Scat to acquire multifrequency multipolarization radar backscatter data and coincident video and IR temperature observations at different incidence angles over remote terrain such as the Arctic Ocean or the Alps is demonstrated.