Time Series Radiometric Analysis of ISRO’s EOS-04 Medium Resolution ScanSAR Systematic Coverage Data

With its weather-independent, all time imaging capability, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is the superlative tool for incessant monitoring of the Earth’s surface. Primarily, a number of civilian SAR missions have accumulated recurring local and global observations over the last few decades. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched Earth Observation Satellite-4 (EOS-04) widely known as Radar Imaging Satellite-1A (RISAT-1A) operating in C-band with various imaging modes and polarization diversity. This paper deals with radiometric analysis performed on systematic coverage data acquired in Medium Resolution ScanSAR (MRS) imaging mode of EOS-04 having end-to-end carpet coverage of Indian peninsular region. The detailed image quality metrics along with backscatter coefficient analysis for co and cross polarizations are brought out towards assessment of EOS-04 medium resolution data for exploiting theme specific land and ocean applications related to Ecosystem, Coastal and disaster support management.