THE MAESTRO-1 EUROPEAN AIRBORNE POLARIMETRIC SYNTHETIC-APERTURE RADAR CAMPAIGN

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) Ispra of the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) supported and financed the deployment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) C-, L- and P-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in Europe in mid-August 1989. The campaign was entitled MAESTRO 1. This deployment represented the first opportunity for European agencies and institutes to evaluate the current state of the art of multi-frequency polarimetric imaging technology over European test sites. In addition, the campaign proved to be an excellent test for the European initiative (a joint EC/ESA CEC/ESA project) to build a European suite of sensors, entitled European Airborne Remote Sensing Capabilities (EARSEC). This paper provides the overall background and description of the MAESTRO 1 Campaign.