The RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar antenna phased array error analysis and performance

The RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar is required to generate a wider range of data products than any other preceding civilian satellite SAR. To achieve the required flexibility the antenna on RADARSAT-2 is a fully active phased array, which provides two-dimensional beamforming and beamsteering. Phased arrays are subject to a wide variety of phase, amplitude and mechanical error sources, all of which vary with temperature. This paper discusses the various sources of error. These error sources are translated into beampattern variations in azimuth and elevation, and the resulting pattern variations are then translated into image quality performance variations in sensitivity, resolution and ambiguity ratios.