• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.254-257
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• 2007

This paper presents an examination of the spatial integration method for extracting the RCS of a trihedral corner reflector from SAR images for SAR external calibration. An exact external radiometric calibration technique is required for extracting an exact calibration constant. Therefore, we examine the accuracy of the spatial integration method, which is commonly used for the SAR external radiometric calibration. At first, an SAR image for a trihedral corner reflector is simulated with a high-resolution SAR impulse response with a known theoretical RCS of the reflector, and a background clutter image for the high resolution SAR system is also generated. Then, a SAR image in a high resolution is generated for a trihedral comer reflector located on a background clutter by superposition of the two SAR images. The radar cross section of a trihedral corner reflector in the SAR image is retrieved by integrating the radar signals of the pixels adjacent to the reflector for various size of the integration area. By comparison of the measured RCS by the integration method and the theoretical RCS of the reflector, the effect of the size of the integration area on the extraction of the calibration constant is examined.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.501-506
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• 2007

Basic research is conducted to identify a target using corner reflectors which are commonly used in calibration of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. At first, an omni-directional reflector is fabricated by combining four 15-cm rectangular trihedral corner reflectors. Then, its radar cross section (RCS) characteristics are measured at C-band (5.3 GHz) for vv-, hh-, hv-, and vh- polarizations at a range of horizontal angle, $-90^{\circ}{\le}{\phi}{\le}90^{\circ}$. The measured RCS angular variation of the omni-directional reflector is much smaller for vv-polarization than other polarizations, and the difference between the maximum and minimum RCSs for vv-polarization is about 8 dB. Peak RCS values are shown at $0^{\circ}$ (normal to plates) and $45^{\circ}$ (direction of bore sight). It is shown that the measurements agree quite well with numerical simulation and theoretical computation results.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.723-730
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• 2012

The radar cross section(RCS) of a trihedral corner reflector(TCR) should be accurately computed when it is used as an external calibration target for a satellite synthetic aperture radar(SAR) calibration campaign. This paper presents the RCS analysis on a trihedral corner reflector which is installed on a calibration site, using the wave reflection from the rough surface and the wave diffraction from the TCR edges. The results in this paper show quantitatively the effect of the front surface on the RCS of a TCR. The difference of the RCS between a TCR in air and a TCR on a ground surface is computed by including the interaction term which consists of the edge diffraction from the TCR edges and the surface reflection from the front rough surface. The reflection coefficient of a randomly rough surface is a function of the surface roughness and dielectric constant of the surface. The RCS of $10{\lambda}$ size TCR on a ground is 0.46 dB higher than TCR in air at 9.65 GHz, and this can reach at maximum 1.55 dB depending on a surface condition and TCR size. The effect of the front surface on the RCS of a TCR increases, as the surface roughness decreases, the soil moisture increases, and the size of TCR in wavelength decreases.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.979-986
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• 2010

This paper presents an algorithm for retrieving precise radar cross sections(RCS) of various trihedral corner reflectors (TCR) which are external calibrators of synthetic aperture radar(SAR) systems. The theoretical RCSs of the TCRs are computed based on the physical optics(PO), geometrical optics(GO), and physical theory of diffraction(PTD) techniques; that is, the RCS computation includes the single reflections(PO), double reflections(GO-PO), triple reflections(GO-GO-PO), and edge diffractions(PTD) from the TCR. At first, we acquire an SAR image of the area that five TCRs installed in, and then extract the RCS of the TCRs. The RCSs of the TCRs are extracted accurately from the SAR image by adding up the power spill, which is generated due to the radar IRF(Impulse Response Function), using a square window. We compare the extracted RCSs with the theoretical RCSs and analyze the difference between the theoretical and experimental RCSs of the TCR for various window sizes and various backscattering coefficient levels of the adjacent area. Finally, we propose the minimum size of the integration area and the maximum level of the backscattering coefficients for the adjacent area.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.253-259
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• 2016

The typical method for performing an absolute radiometric calibration of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) System is to analyze its response, without interference, to a target with a known Radar Cross Section (RCS). To minimize interference, an error-free calibration site for a Corner Reflector (CR) is required on a wide and flat plain or on an area without disturbance sources (such as ground objects). However, in reality, due to expense and lack of availability for long periods, it is difficult to identify such a site. An alternative solution is the use of a Triangular Trihedral Corner Reflector (TTCR) site, with a surrounding protection wall consisting of berms and a hollow. It is possible in this scenario, to create the minimum criteria for an effectively error-free site involving a conventional object-tip reflection applied to all beams. Sidelobe interference by the berm is considered to be the major disturbance factor. Total interference, including an object-tip reflection and a sidelobe interference, is analyzed experimentally with SAR images. The results provide a new guideline for the minimum criteria of TTCR site design that require, at least, the removal of all ground objects within the fifth sidelobe.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.408-416
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• 2010

A study on the calibration of an X-band HPS(Hongik Polarimetric Scatterometer) system for ground-based operation is presented in this paper. In order to calibrate the scatterometer system, the degree of its distortions are analyzed by comparison between theoretical- and measured-values using the theoretically well-known calibration targets such as a metal sphere, a trihedral corner reflector(CR) and a metal cylinder. The calibration works in the field conditions depend on the precise and stable measurements of those calibration target. we present a measurement technique, so-called, an automatic 2-D target-scanning technique, using the incidence-angle(${\xi}-$ and ${\phi}-$ directions) control of HPS system. Then, we used STCT(Single-Target Calibration Technique) and GCT(General Calibration Technique) to calibrate a distortion of the scatterometer system, and measured the polarimetric RCS(Radar Cross Section) and phase-difference of a trihedral-CR as a test-target to verify the accuracy of the calibration technique. Then, three different types(i.e., 10, 20, 30 cm) of trihedral-CR were used. we obtained the error ranges about ${\pm}1.0$dB, ${\pm}0.5$ dB in a polarimetric RCS and about $-20^{\circ}{\sim}0^{\circ}$ and ${\pm}5^{\circ}$ in the co-polarized phase-difference by using the GCT and STCT, respectively.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.711-719
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• 2011

A study of miniaturization of an L-band orthomode transducer(OMT) for field experiments of radar backscatter is presented in this paper. The proposed OMT is not required the additional waveguide taper structures to connect with a standard adaptor by the newly designed junction structure which bases on a waveguide taper. Total length of the OMT for L-band is about 1.2 ${\lambda}_o$(310 mm) and it's a size of 60 % of the existing OMTs. And, to increase the matching and isolation performances of each polarization, two conducting posts are inserted. The bandwidth of 420 MHz and the isolation level of about 40 dB are measured in the operating frequency. The L-band scatterometer consisting of the manufactured OMT, a horn-antenna and network analyzer(Agilent 8753E) was used STCT and 2DTST to analysis the measurement accuracy of radar backscatter. The full-polarimetric RCSs of test-target, 55 cm trihedral corner reflector, measured by the calibrated scatterometer have errors of -0.2 dB and 0.25 dB for vv-/hh-polarization, respectively. The effective isolation level is about 35.8 dB in the operating frequency. Then, the horn-antenna used to measure has the length of 300 mm, the aperture size of $450{\times}450\;mm^2$, and HPBWs of $29.5^{\circ}$ and $36.5^{\circ}$ on the principle E-/H-planes.