The AIRSAR Instrument

1
The AIRSAR Instrument
AIRSAR is a multi-frequency, quad-polarization,
multi-baseline interferometric imaging radar.

• AIRSAR supports the NASA Earth Science Enterprise
  (ESE) Strategic Plan
• Acquire science data.
• Demonstrate new radar technology and radar
  techniques.
• Calibrate/Validate other radar sensors
  satellitesuborbital
• Develop science algorithms for radar.
• Promote international partnerships.
• Each of these activities is directly geared
  towards addressing ESE science questions.

Typical applications
NASA Science

• Forestry Classification / Biomass Estimation
• River rates, snow pack/melt, soil moisture
• Ice type/thickness/extent, glacier motion
• Biomass, carbon cycle, clear-cutting
• Coastal currents, wave spectra, mesoscale eddies
• Crop health/classification, urban mapping, forest
  inventory
• Planetary analogues, technology demonstrations
• Search and rescue, archaeology,
• Hazards flood, fire, pollution, UXO, landslides

• Solid Earth
• Hydrology
• Cryosphere
• Ecology
• Physical Oceanography
• Land Cover
• Space Science
• Applications Program

2
AirSci 2002
Flight Request S. Cal Eddies CLPX GLAWEX Planetary
Analogues Deformation Studies I Fire
Hazards Search and Rescue I Search and Rescue
II SRTM Validation Deformation Studies II River
Altimeter Forest Studies DOD Archaeology SMEX Mars
Sciencecraft
PI Holt Cline Leshkevich Campbell Fielding Denniso
n, Weissel GSFC Dryden/GSFC Zebker Webb Rodriguez
Dobson Blom Jackson, Njoku Davies
Discipline Polar Science Code YS Hydrology Polar
Science/Hydrology Code SR Solid Earth and Natural
Hazards Code YO Code YO Code YO Solid Earth and
Natural Hazards Solid Earth and Natural
Hazards Code YS Hydrology Code YS Ecology / Code
YO Reimbursable DoD Code YS Hydrology Code S
3
SMEX02
Initally, dry condition
After light rainfall
After heavy rainfall
SMEX02 Field HQ
Dry-down
Further Dry-down
A set of five AIRSAR flights were acquired over
the SMEX experimental and regional sites,
compassing a series of thundershowers with an
initial dry period and a post-rain dry-down
period. These data were collected as part of an
intensive field and multi-sensor air campaign.
4
Cold Land Processes Experiment Snowfall-Induced
Change
Fraser 270-1 before-snow, just after snow, and
during snow-melt.
23 Feb 02
21 Feb 02
19 Feb 02
5
ATI for Surface Hydrology
Data acquired over Columbia and Missouri Rivers.
Principal Investigators
Delwyn Moller JPL Ernesto Rodriguez JPL
m/s
Research Objective
Demonstrate the feasibility of a future
spaceborne system which could use along-track
interferometry to measure river velocities and
cross-track interferometry for water level
measurements. Applications would include

dB
m/s
6
Great Lakes Winter Experiment Ice
Type/Thickness/Breakup
L
C
R
Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior
L CHH CHV CVV C LHH LHV LVV R PHH PHV PVV
L PHH LHH CHH C PHH LHV CHV R PVV LVV CVV
L PTP LTP CTP C PHH LHV CVV R PVV LHV CHH
7
IceSAR02 Ocean
Eddy Studies off the Coast of Southern CA
Principal Investigators
ERS Imagery

• Ben Holt, JPL
• Paul DiGiacomo, JPL

Research Objective

• Map eddy structure via oily slicks interested
  in generation, persistence, recurrence,
  rotational and translational speeds.
• Measure river outflow / storm water discharge and
  impact on productivity.
• Same-day data acquisition with Radarsat and ERS
  for comparison.

AIRSAR L-band Along-Track Interferometry
8
AIRSAR Technology
Implemented in 2002
Planned for 2003

• New Digital Chirp Generators (Mars)
• New P-band Transmitter (3dB)
• New EGI Firmware
• Real-Time Differential GPS (lt14 cm)
• Quick-look interferometry and polarimetry
• Co-registered multi-frequency at differing
  bandwidths (40/40/20 and 80/80/40)

• Demonstrate new digital subsystem three-times
  the data-rate--gtwider high-res swath / better
  SNR.
• Add two C-band receivers to allow simultaneous
  POLSAR/TOPSAR/ATI with multiple-baselines
  simultaneous co-pol and cross-pol interferometry.
• Demonstrate airborne repeat-pass interferometry
  processing capability.

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DC-8 Schedule for 2003
SMEX03
SMEX03
NRL ATI
10
Data Acquisition Plans

• Feb03 - Apr03 CLPX03, Mars ASE, SAR2
• May03 - Jun03 ECOSAR03 (Central America)
• Jun03 - Jul03 SMEX03
• Jul03 - Aug03 NRL ATI
• Feb04 - Apr04 CLPX04
• 2004-2005 SHEX04 / SHEX05 ?
• Jun04 - Jul04 LBA (Amazon) (not likely)
• Dec04 - Feb05 Pole-to-Pole Mission
• Sep05 Earthscope
• Jun06 - Jul06 Earthscope

See http//www.dfrc.nasa.gov/airsci/dc85yr.html (N
ote that the calendar at this link is not
necessarily always up-to-date.)
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Pole-to-Pole Mission
Tentative schedule Dec 2004- Feb 2005

• Candidate Science Objectives
• Volcano study in Aleutians and Kamchatka
  topographic change filling voids in SRTM
  coverage.
• Alaska/Canada Tundra Ice studies in Arctic,
  Beaufort Sea, grounding line in Antarctic,
  Patagonia glaciers
• Monsoon season in Australia (flooding)
• Tropical forest studies (biomass and carbon
  cycle) South and Central America, SE Asia
  (Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia)
• Opposite season from previous campaigns in SE
  Asia and Australia for change in land cover,
  flood plains
• Kuroshio current and related eddies, eddies spun
  off from Antarctic circumpolar current

Suggested Goals

• Study of new-generation AIRSAR datasets for
  scientific and algorithm development.
• Data fusion with additional co-mounted
  instruments e.g., MASTER, PSR
• Cal/Val with spaceborne datasets ALOS/PalSAR,
  RadarSAT II.
• Algorithm development for Hydros

Regions of Study

• Arctic
• Aleutians
• Kamchatka
• Central/South America
• Antarctic
• Australia and SE Asia

20 meter height wrap, near Angkor, Cambodia