Radiometric and Polarimetric Calibration Quality Assessment of ISRO ASAR L- and S-Band Data: Pre-NISAR Calibration Activity

Space Applications Centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed a dual-frequency airborne L&S Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensor as a proof of concept and precursor to NISAR. NISAR is a collaborative spaceborne mission between ISRO and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). L&S airborne SAR sensor was flown in India and in United States of America (USA) to acquire data to assess the quality of the data and to utilize the dual frequency data to develop tools and techniques for NISAR for various applications. The ASAR instrument was mounted on NASA’s Gulfstream III aircraft with the antenna pod and navigation package being same as of NASA UAVSAR radar system. Full-polarization data acquired over the Rosamond calibration site in USA during June 2021 was analyzed, and the assessment results are presented here.