Verification of the GMES Sentinel-1 Antenna Model

The C-SAR Antenna Subsystem (SAS) of the European Radar Observatory Sentinel-1 is based on an active dual-polarized phased array consisting of 280 waveguide subarrays for each polarization. In this paper, the Sentinel-1 Antenna Model is presented which calculates the far field pattern of the different SAR operational modes based on subarray near field measurements (active element pattern). Due to the high flexibility of the Antenna Model it is also highly attractive for other spaceborne SAR missions. The excellent agreement found between the Antenna Model prediction and far field pattern acquired by Planar Near Field measurements (PNFS) is demonstrated.