Development and Implementation of an Efficient Temperature Management System for SAR System Calibration Transponders - Project Documentation

Abstract

For the radiometric calibration of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar systems, active targets with known backscatter, so called transponders, are used. These serve as an external absolute reference, and the quality of the derived calibration parameters depends on the quality of the deployed transponders. Due to the temperature dependent behavior of the implemented active radio frequency components the transponder radar cross section is sensitive to the temperature of the components. In this project documentation the basics of the calibration of a spaceborne SAR System are presented, followed by a statement of the necessity of the implementation of a reliable and precise temperature management system. In order to fulfill the increasing requirements for future transponders towards radiometric accuracy an approach for a new temperature control concept ist introduced.