Polarimetric airborne scientific instrument, mark 2, an ice‐sounding airborne synthetic aperture radar for subglacial 3D imagery

Bibliographic Details
Title: Polarimetric airborne scientific instrument, mark 2, an ice‐sounding airborne synthetic aperture radar for subglacial 3D imagery
Authors: Álvaro Arenas‐Pingarrón, Hugh F. J. Corr, Carl Robinson, Tom A. Jordan, Paul V. Brennan
Source: IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation, Vol 17, Iss 9, Pp 1391-1404 (2023)
Publisher Information: Wiley, 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Telecommunication
Subject Terms: airborne radar, array signal processing, direction‐of‐arrival estimation, MUSIC algorithm, remote sensing by radar, synthetic aperture radar, Telecommunication, TK5101-6720
More Details: Abstract Polarimetric Airborne Scientific INstrument, mark 2 (PASIN2) is a 150 MHz coherent pulsed radar with the purpose of deep ice sounding for bedrock, subglacial channels and ice‐water interface detection in Antarctica. It is designed and operated by the British Antarctic Survey from 2014. With multiple antennas, oriented along and across‐track, for transmission and reception, it enables polarimetric 3D estimation of the ice base with a single pass, reducing the gridding density of the survey paths. The off‐line data processing stream consists of channel calibration; 2D synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging based on back‐projection, for along‐track and range dimensions; and finally, a direction of arrival estimation (DoA) of the remaining across‐track angle, by modifying the non‐linear MUSIC algorithm. Calibration flights, during the Antarctic Summer campaigns in 16/17 and 19/20 seasons, assessed and validated the instrument and processing performances. Imaging flights over ice streams and ice shelves close to grounding lines demonstrate the 3D sensing capabilities. By resolving directional ambiguities and accounting for reflector across‐track location, the true ice thickness and bed elevation are obtained, thereby removing the error of the usual assumption of vertical DoA, that greatly influence the output of flow models of ice dynamics.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1751-8792
1751-8784
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8784; https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8792
DOI: 10.1049/rsn2.12428
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/309508bd00a248dc99535338e286b3a8
Accession Number: edsdoj.309508bd00a248dc99535338e286b3a8
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:17518792
17518784
DOI:10.1049/rsn2.12428
Published in:IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation
Language:English