Analysis of Internal Timings and Clock Rates of TerraSAR-X

Abstract

Due to the indirect measurement principle of radar on base of signal travel time, a very precise calibration of the sensor’s internal clock with regard to clock rate and potential time offsets relative to the Coordinated Universal Time is an essential prerequisite for accurate pixel localization in Synthetic Aperture Radar. Giving special considerations on this aspect, we developed two algorithms that improve the already high localization accuracy of TerraSAR-X: The either one very precisely determines the true oscillator clock rate, while the other one effectively refines the accuracy of time annotation. Experimental analyses evaluate the obtained improvements in localization accuracy from both techniques.