Polarimetric Calibration of the Ku-Band Advanced Polarimetric Radar Interferometer

Differential interferometry using ground-based radar systems permits to monitor displacements in natural terrain with high flexibility in location, time of acquisition, and revisit time. In combination with polarimetric imaging, discrimination of different scattering mechanisms present in a resolution cell can be obtained simultaneously with the estimation of surface displacement. In this paper, we present the preprocessing steps and the calibration procedure required to produce high-quality calibrated polarimetric single-look complex imagery with KAPRI, a new portable Ku-band polarimetric radar interferometer. The processing of KAPRI data into single look complex images is addressed, including the correction of beam squint and of azimuthal phase variations. A polarimetric calibration model adapted to the acquisition mode is presented and used to produce calibrated polarimetric covariance matrix data. The methods are validated by means of a scene containing five trihedral corner reflectors. Data preprocessing is assessed by analyzing the oversampled response of a corner reflector, and the polarimetric calibration quality is verified by computing polarimetric signatures and residual calibration parameters.