ECOSAR THE FIRST P- BAND DIGITAL BEAMFORMING POLARIMETRIC - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

GSFC Science Temilola Fatoyinbo Jon Ranson Guoqing Sun GSFC Engineering Rafael Rincon Manohar Deshpande Martin Perrine Quenton Bonds Matthew Mclinden External Partners Richard Hale (University of Kansas) Intelligence Automation Inc.

ECOSAR

THE FIRST P- BAND DIGITAL BEAMFORMING POLARIMETRIC INTERFEROMETRIC SAR INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE, BIOMASS, AND SURFACE WATER

ESTO-IIP 2011-2014

ECOSAR SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

P-band Digital Beamforming Polarimetric Interferometric SAR:

• Dual Antennas with 25 m baseline
• Center frequency of 435 MHz (69 cm wavelength)
• Range resolution (8 m – 44 m)
• High resolution science mode (1.3 m)
• Polarization HH, VV, HV, VH
• Digital Beamforming

EcoSAR will fly on the NASA P3 airplane based at Wallops Flight Facility

MAIN SCIENCE OBJECTIVES

EcoSAR instrument will quantify:

• Biomass (up to 200 Mg/ha from Polarimetric SAR)
• Canopy and Surface Height ( 1m accuracy from PolInSAR)
• Ecosystem structure and extent (range resolution of 1.3 m)
• Disturbance and recovery

SCIENCE OBJECTIVES

• These measurements are crucial for future SAR mission

validation (DesdynI, BIOMASS, Tandem-L)

• Improved Carbon and forest structure estimates will support

international C reduction initiatives (REDD+)

• How are the Earth's carbon cycle and ecosystems

changing, and what are the consequences for the Earth's carbon budget, ecosystem sustainability, and biodiversity?

WHY P-BAND

• Longer wavelengths (L- and P- band) are able to penetrate the

canopy and are scattered by larger components, such as the trunk and the ground and thereby increase the returned signal.

P-Band (HH,HV,VV)

Dark areas in this image are recent disturbance from logging.

50 100 150 200 50 100 150 200

Field Stem Biomass (tons/ha) SAR Predicted Stem Biomass P-band Algorithm R=0.954

Saatchi & Moghaddam 2000

P-Band (HH,HV,VV) L-Band (HH,HV,VV) C-Band (HH,HV,VV)

P-Band Estimated Forest Stem Biomass vs Field measurements in Boreal Forests (R2 = 0.9) Saatchi & Moghaddam, 2000

P-Band SAR Measures Boreal & temperate Forest Biomass up to 200 Mg/ha with ±10% Accuracy

P-Band Measurements of Boreal & Temperate Forest Biomass

(HH, HV, VV) AirSAR P-Band SAR Measurement of Tropical Forest Disturbance and Aboveground Biomass

AirSAR P-band Image (1993) Manu National Park, Peru

H H HV

Pol-InSAR height measurements:

• Polarization is sensitive to scattering

mechanisms with different interferometric scattering phase centers

• EcoSAR will allow us to separate ground signal

from canopy signal and derive canopy height. HV scattering phase center HH scattering phase center

Height (m)

Example of SAR and InSAR using DBSAR (L-band) measurements

EcoSAR Concept

EcoSAR + DBSAR

Schedule and Milestones

Year 1 Definition of the EcoSAR science and system and requirements Antenna Arrays Design and fabrication Radar Electronics Unit Design and fabrication Year 2 Completion of Waveform generator/data system Testing and programming of waveform generator/data system Radar Electronics evaluation, testing and initial assembly. Full system integration and testing in laboratory and in anechoic chamber. Year 3 Installation and test flight operation of the system on the NASA P-3 aircraft Validation of EcoSAR test flight data sets Field Campaign 1 New Hampshire and Maine Field Campaign 2 Costa Rica Science Retrievals from EcoSAR campaigns

FIELD CAMPAIGNS

New England Summer 2013 Costa Rica Winter 2014

+ Wallops & SERC

CURRENT STATUS

• Successfully completed the design of prototype dual polarized wideband

P-band antenna element.

• Simulations of Full array performance is underway.
• Preliminary Aerodynamic analysis on antenna structure has been

performed.

• Several radar transceiver designs have been formulated and evaluated.

Components specifications and availability are being investigated.

• Waiting for contract to IAI to begin processor development.