TerraSAR-X / TanDEM-X Mission and Calibration Status with a Detailed Analysis of Rainforest LTSM Time-Series Data

Abstract

Though ageing, the TerraSAR-X / TanDEM-X instruments continue to provide SAR images at their well-known outstanding image quality. After a general overview about the state of the mission and an update on the current calibration performance this paper will focus on analyzing of a time-series of long-term system monitoring acquisitions. Several sites of the Amazon rainforest have been regularly acquired over now more than fifteen years since start of the TerraSAR-X mission for LTSM purposes. We analyze the potential of such a long time series for understanding variations in observed rainforest backscatter even beyond the originally specified radiometric accuracy.