Demonstration of ocean target detection by Tiangong-2 interferometric imaging radar altimeter

The interferometric imaging radar altimeter (InIRA) onboard Chinese Tiangong-2 Space Laboratory is a Ku-Band two-channel interferometric radar, which aims to test and validate the mechanism of wide-swath ocean topography measurement through interferometry with short baseline and at small incidence angles, as well as some key technologies, e.g. high-power solid state power amplifier (SSPA), from which accurate sea surface height (SSH) can be retrieved. The Tiangong-2 was launched on Sept. 15, 2016, and currently the InIRA works very well. In this paper, we present some typical observation results over ocean to demonstrate the capability of ocean target detection both directly and indirectly.