Table of contents
Imaging Radar Home Page
Figures - Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar : Current Status
and Future Directions
This section contains links to all the figures in the report to the
National Research Council. WARNING : Some of these figures are LARGE
(larger than 1 Megabyte). It may take awhile to load some of them.
Also, the complete figure captions are included in the image. The
following image captions may be condensed.
- 1--Executive Summary (no figures)
- 2--Ecology
- Table 2-1 : Some recent examples of
land cover classification
approaches and findings using radar imagery.
- Table 2-2 : Optimal SAR parameters for land surface
application.
- Table 2-3 : Potential or demonstrated capabilities of Spaceborne
SAR's for ecology.
- Figure 2-1 : Schematic diagram of major scattering terms in
microwave modeling of forest canopies.
- Figure 2-2 : Use of theoretical models to understand radar
scattering from vegetated surfaces.
- Figure 2-3 : Use of theoretical models to understand radar
scattering from vegetated surfaces.
- Figure 2-4a : Image of crop classification derived from
multi-temporal ERS-1 SAR imagery collected over Flevoland, The
Netherlands.
- Figure 2-4b : Maps of the flooding and land cover from data obtained
by SRL-1.
- Figure 2-4c : Images showing classification of natural
vegetation/land cover and biomass estimation derived from SIR-C/X-SAR
data from Nothern Michigan forests.
- Figure 2-4d : Images showing classification of natural
vegetation/landcover based on AIRSAR data of Bonanza Creek, Alaska; and
vegetation map.
- Figure 2-5 : Airborne and SIR-C L-band VV SAR imagery collected over
Duke Forest, North Carolina.
- Figure 2-6 : Dependence of L and C band SAR backscatter on
aboveground biomass.
- Figure 2-7 : Predicted versus actual basal area, height and biomass
using semi-empirical approach.
- Figure 2-8 : Methane emissions and ERS-1 SAR backscatter related to
the position of the local water table for herbaceous sites at Barrow,
Alaska, mean +- standard error.
- Figure 2-9 : Seasonal variation in ERS-1 SAR backscatter for
wetlands and non-wetlands for data collected over Barrow, Alaska.
- Figure 2-10 : North and South transects across Alaska acquired by
ERS-1 SAR during 1991 commissioning phase.
- Figure 2-11 : ERS-1 SAR images collected in 1992 to 1994 over a
fire-disturbed Spruce forest near Tok, Alaska.
- Figure 2-12 : Relationship between ERS-1 SAR radar cross section and
volumetric soil moisture from test sites in the 1990 Tok forest fire
site.
- 3--Hydrology
- Figure 3-1 : L-band HH image and two soil moisture maps of
Chickasha, Oklahoma derived from SIR-C data for April 12, 1994 and April
15, 1994.
- Figure 3-2 : Radar estimated soil moisture versus measured soil
moisture for the different active microwave data sets where both radar
data and in-situ soil moisture measurements were available.
- Figure 3-3a : SIR-C C-band image of Mammoth Mountain, California
taken on April 11, 1994 and snow wetness map derived from the
data.
- Figure 3-3b : Comparison of ground measurements with SAR-derived
snow wetness.
- 4--Marine Science and Applications
- Table 4-1 : Future SAR configurations for Ocean and Ice.
- Figure 4-1 : SIRC/XSAR ocean surface wave vectors and wave vector
spectrum derived from the on-board real-time processor.
- Figure 4-2 : Images of the California Current acquired on September
8, 1989 by the AIRSAR aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft.
- Figure 4-3 : Velocity components inferred from AIRSAR measurements
off Cape Hatteras near the Gulf Stream.
- Figure 4-4a : Seasat L-band SAR image of the ocean near Nantucket
Island, showing bathymetric signatures, upwelling, and internal
waves.
- Figure 4-4b : Skylab image of the same region as 4-4a made several
years before, showing white shoal regions that match the bathymetry and
SAR backscatter variations very accurately.
- Figure 4-5 : ERS-1 C-band image of solitary waves generated by tidal
flow against the continental shelf, with bathymetry shown in red.
- Figure 4-6a : Image of the ocean West of Ireland made by the Soviet
Spacecraft Almaz-L with its S-band HH SAR on July 5, 1991 showing a
region of tidally induced updwelling and internal wave generation at the
edge of the continental shelf.
- Figure 4-6b : AIRSAR images at P, L, and C band VV of the area made
within the stripe of figure 4-6a.
- Figure 4-7 : ERS-1 C band image of a large vessel in the Skagerrak
off Sweden made on August 5, 1991, and showing an internal wave wake
over 40 km long.
- Figure 4-8 : ERS-1 C-band VV image of the Straits of Messina between
Italy and Sicily made during the late night.
- Figure 4-9 : Simultaneous images of the ocean surface from a Russian
Toros real aperture radar operating at 15 GHz near 60 degree incidence
angle.
- Figure 4-10 : Winder sea ice data displays showing estimates of
thickness from SAR polarimetry.
- 5--Ice Sheets and Glaciers
- Figure 5-1 : Schematic cross-section of snowpack
- Figure 5-2 : Sea-level history from Barbados and Galveston Bay
- Figure 5-3 : Greenland SAR mosaic
- Figure 5-4 : Side looking perspective of snow facies in Western
Greenland.
- Figure 5-5 : Two views of a portion of Greenland ice sheet showing
contrast in radar backscatter between wet and frozen conditions.
- Figure 5-6 : SIR-C image of the South Patagonia Icefield.
- Figure 5-7 : Icebergs in Jakobshavns Fiord.
- Figure 5-8 : SAR image of Western Greenland showing crevasses, lakes, streams,
flow lines, moraines, and ice edge.
- Figure 5-9 : Surface velocity field of Jakobshavns Glacier.
- Figure 5-10 : Interferogram fo Bagley Icefield, Alaska, and
tributaries during surge of Bering Glacier.
- Figure 5-11 : Interferogram of 50km x 50 km area in Northeast
Greenland with surface topography and velocity components
separated.
- Figure 5-12 : Surface topography of Western Greenland derived from
satellite radar altimetry and SAR interferometry.
- 6--Solid Earth Sciences and Topography
- Figure 6-1a : Summary of the availability of topographic data at
various horizontal and vertical accuracies, as will be measured by
various future spacecraft and conventional topographic data bases.
- Figure 6-1b : Summary of the spatial and vertical accuracy of
topographic data that are required for various solid Earth science
investigations.
- Figure 6-2 : Long Valley region of East-central California acquired
by SIR-C/X-SAR interferometer.
- Figure 6-3 : Vertical deformation at Long Valley California as
recorded by a permanent GPS station.
- Figure 6-4 : This map was prepared from TOPSAR airborne
interferometry data obtained over the basaltic shield volcano Fernandina
in the W. Galapagos Islands.
- Figure 6-5 : A comparison of radar phase data collected over Kilauea
volcano, Hawaii, between SRL-1 and SRL-2 missions indicates some of the
problems in using this technique in tropical settings.
- Figure 6-6 : Comparison of the phase data collected over Pu'u O'o
eruption site of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii on Days 7 to 10 of the SRL-12
mission.
- Figure 6-7 : Comparison of surface changes detected by SRL-2
interferometry over the Pu'u O'o lava flow field, Kilauea, Hawaii,
between Oct 7-10, 1994.
- Figure 6-8 : This SIR-C image shows the region aroudn the site of
the lost city of Ubar in Southern Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula.
- Figure 6-9 : These images of Trail Canyon alluvial fan, Death
Valley, California show the capability of polarimetric multifrequency
radar to discriminate lithologies based on quantitative surface
roughness.
- Figure 6-10 : Photograph of the 9 meter mast deployed at Death
Valley, California that was used to collect wind speed and temperature
data within the surface boundary layer.
- Figure 6-11 : Radar backscatter observations of the SRL-1 super site
at Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley, have been used to calculate
aerodynamic roughness.
- Figure 6-12a : Major geodetic datum blocks.
- Figure 6-12b : Availability of topographic data at various scales
in both contour map and digital form.
- 7--SAR System Technology
- Table 7-1 : Summary of approximate mass of civilian spaceborne
imaging radars.
- Figure 7-1 : NASA spaceborne SARs for the Earth observations system
technology evolution
- Figure 7-2a : International spaceborne SARs for Earth
observations.
- Figure 7-2b : System technology evolution for international SAR
programs.
- Figure 7-3 : Global topography mapping mission concept.
- Figure 7-4 : Global SAR mapping mission, medium resolution global
mapping with dual-frequency, polarimetry SAR
- Figure 7-5 : SIR-C/X-SAR being lowered into the cargo bay.
- Figure 7-6 : In-step inflatable antenna experiment
- Figure 7-7 : SIR-C L-band T/R module
- Figure 7-8 : Schematic diagram on low power RF subsytem with
MMIC.
- Figure 7-9 : Peak transmit power for RF sources vs frequency
- Figure 7-10 : Example of Microwave Power Module and comparison of
its characteristics with conventional TWTA.
- Table 7-2 : Projection of high technology SAR systems for global
topography mapping missions in 2000.
- 8--References (no figures)
- Appendix
- Table B-1 : Comparison of SAR systems and frequencies used.
- Table B-2 : Microwave bands available for SAR.
Table of contents
Imaging Radar Home Page
Updated May 10,1995
bruce.chapman@jpl.nasa.gov