DEVELOPMENT OF A SAR DATA ACQUISITION PLANNING TOOL (SARPLAN) BASED ON IMAGE SIMULATION

With the advent of multiple spaceborne platforms, users of SAR image data will be faced with the problem of selecting an optimum acquisition mode from a suite of possible imaging geometries. This problem will be particularly important for coverage of regions exhibiting moderate to severe topographic relief since the visibility and apparent shape of topographic features are strongly influenced by SAR illumination conditions. This paper proposes the development of a data acquisition planning tool based on image simulation. In practice, the user would query reception facilities to determine the basic imaging parameters (e.g., satellite heading and altitude; SAR look direction) of satellite passes over his/her geographical area of interest. Simulated data sets would then be generated for each available viewing geometry and evaluated in order to define a preferred acquisition option. A PC-based prototype system has been developed to demonstrate the principal components of the planning tool. An evaluation of Seasat and Radarsat simulations has been carried out to illustrate these components.