The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2

David Belcher; P.S. Cannon; Anders Gustavsson

doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2

David Belcher, P.S. Cannon, Anders Gustavsson

Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

5 Citations (Scopus)

3 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The effect of the ionosphere on SAR imaging has been studied previously from both an analytic and a numerical simulation perspective. Recently, effects visible in SAR imagery have been ascribed to turbulence in the ionosphere. This paper describes an experiment that seeks to use ground-based GPS measurements of the ionospheric scintillation, collected simultaneously with PALSAR-2 imagery, to unambiguously confirm the predictions of the analytic theory. PALSAR-2 (on board the ALOS-2 satellite) was used in spotlight mode to image a 5m corner reflector to obtain an accurate measurement of the point spread function (PSF). Initial results, obtained during the 2014/15 scintillation season, confirm that the analytic theory describing the shape of the SAR PSF is correct. This is then used to obtain two measures of the scintillation, p and CkL, directly from the PALSAR-2 PSF. The collected data set can also be used for further research into ionospheric autofocus techniques.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages	3191-3194
Number of pages	4
ISBN (Electronic)	9781479979295, 9781479979288 (USB)
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496
Publication status	Published - 12 Nov 2015
Event	International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2015 (IGARSS 2015) - Milan, Italy Duration: 26 Jul 2015 → 31 Jul 2015

Publication series

Name	IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings
Publisher	IEEE
ISSN (Print)	2153-6996
ISSN (Electronic)	2153-7003

Conference

Conference	International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2015 (IGARSS 2015)
Country/Territory	Italy
City	Milan
Period	26/07/15 → 31/07/15

Keywords

Synthetic Aperture Radar
Ionosphere
Ionospheric Scintillation

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10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

BelcherD2015Ascension
D. P. Belcher, P. S. Cannon and A. Gustavsson, "The ascension island experiment: Measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2," 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Milan, Italy, 2015, pp. 3191-3194, doi: 10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496. © 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Accepted author manuscript, 406 KBLicence: Other (please specify with Rights Statement)

Analytic Descriptions of the Lonospheric Impact on Space-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar
Cannon, P.
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council
8/03/11 → 7/09/14
Project: Research Councils

Cite this

Belcher, D., Cannon, P. S., & Gustavsson, A. (2015). The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2. In 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) (pp. 3191-3194). (IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

Belcher, David ; Cannon, P.S. ; Gustavsson, Anders. / The Ascension Island experiment : measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2. 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2015. pp. 3191-3194 (IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings).

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title = "The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2",

abstract = "The effect of the ionosphere on SAR imaging has been studied previously from both an analytic and a numerical simulation perspective. Recently, effects visible in SAR imagery have been ascribed to turbulence in the ionosphere. This paper describes an experiment that seeks to use ground-based GPS measurements of the ionospheric scintillation, collected simultaneously with PALSAR-2 imagery, to unambiguously confirm the predictions of the analytic theory. PALSAR-2 (on board the ALOS-2 satellite) was used in spotlight mode to image a 5m corner reflector to obtain an accurate measurement of the point spread function (PSF). Initial results, obtained during the 2014/15 scintillation season, confirm that the analytic theory describing the shape of the SAR PSF is correct. This is then used to obtain two measures of the scintillation, p and CkL, directly from the PALSAR-2 PSF. The collected data set can also be used for further research into ionospheric autofocus techniques.",

keywords = "Synthetic Aperture Radar, Ionosphere, Ionospheric Scintillation",

author = "David Belcher and P.S. Cannon and Anders Gustavsson",

year = "2015",

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doi = "10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496",

language = "English",

series = "IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)",

pages = "3191--3194",

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Belcher, D, Cannon, PS & Gustavsson, A 2015, The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2. in 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), pp. 3191-3194, International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2015 (IGARSS 2015), Milan, Italy, 26/07/15. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2. / Belcher, David; Cannon, P.S.; Gustavsson, Anders.
2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2015. p. 3191-3194 (IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - The Ascension Island experiment

T2 - International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2015 (IGARSS 2015)

AU - Belcher, David

AU - Cannon, P.S.

AU - Gustavsson, Anders

PY - 2015/11/12

Y1 - 2015/11/12

N2 - The effect of the ionosphere on SAR imaging has been studied previously from both an analytic and a numerical simulation perspective. Recently, effects visible in SAR imagery have been ascribed to turbulence in the ionosphere. This paper describes an experiment that seeks to use ground-based GPS measurements of the ionospheric scintillation, collected simultaneously with PALSAR-2 imagery, to unambiguously confirm the predictions of the analytic theory. PALSAR-2 (on board the ALOS-2 satellite) was used in spotlight mode to image a 5m corner reflector to obtain an accurate measurement of the point spread function (PSF). Initial results, obtained during the 2014/15 scintillation season, confirm that the analytic theory describing the shape of the SAR PSF is correct. This is then used to obtain two measures of the scintillation, p and CkL, directly from the PALSAR-2 PSF. The collected data set can also be used for further research into ionospheric autofocus techniques.

AB - The effect of the ionosphere on SAR imaging has been studied previously from both an analytic and a numerical simulation perspective. Recently, effects visible in SAR imagery have been ascribed to turbulence in the ionosphere. This paper describes an experiment that seeks to use ground-based GPS measurements of the ionospheric scintillation, collected simultaneously with PALSAR-2 imagery, to unambiguously confirm the predictions of the analytic theory. PALSAR-2 (on board the ALOS-2 satellite) was used in spotlight mode to image a 5m corner reflector to obtain an accurate measurement of the point spread function (PSF). Initial results, obtained during the 2014/15 scintillation season, confirm that the analytic theory describing the shape of the SAR PSF is correct. This is then used to obtain two measures of the scintillation, p and CkL, directly from the PALSAR-2 PSF. The collected data set can also be used for further research into ionospheric autofocus techniques.

KW - Synthetic Aperture Radar

KW - Ionosphere

KW - Ionospheric Scintillation

U2 - 10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

DO - 10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

M3 - Conference contribution

T3 - IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings

SP - 3191

EP - 3194

BT - 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Y2 - 26 July 2015 through 31 July 2015

ER -

Belcher D, Cannon PS, Gustavsson A. The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2. In 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 2015. p. 3191-3194. (IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium proceedings). doi: 10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326496

The Ascension Island experiment: measurement of ionospheric scintillation effects on PALSAR-2

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Analytic Descriptions of the Lonospheric Impact on Space-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar

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