Delay/Doppler compensation: a new concept for radar altimetry

R. Keith Raney

doi:10.1117/12.228587

15 December 1995 Delay/Doppler compensation: a new concept for radar altimetry

R. Keith Raney

Proceedings Volume 2583, Advanced and Next-Generation Satellites; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.228587
Event: Satellite Remote Sensing II, 1995, Paris, France

Abstract

This new satellite radar altimeter concept uses on-board real-time partially coherent processing to realize an along-track impulse response shape and position which are not degraded by terrain slope or elevation. The key innovation is delay compensation, analogous to range curvature correction in a burst mode synthetic aperture radar. The detected outputs of many bursts are incoherently integrated to accumulate more than one hundred equivalent looks. The along-track footprint size is on the order of 200 - 300 meters. The radar equation for the delay/Doppler radar altimeter has an h^(-5/2) dependence on height, which is more efficient than the corresponding h^(-3) factor for a pulse-limited altimeter. The radiometric response obtained by the new approach would be 10 dB stronger than that of the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter, for example, if the same hardware were used in the delay/Doppler mode. The concept is a candidate small satellite instrument for earth observation, with particular suitability for precision altimetry of coastal and polar ice sheets.

Citation Download Citation

R. Keith Raney "Delay/Doppler compensation: a new concept for radar altimetry", Proc. SPIE 2583, Advanced and Next-Generation Satellites, (15 December 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.228587

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