The Extended Timing Annotation Dataset for Sentinel-1-Product Description and First Evaluation Results
Gisinger, Christoph; Libert, Ludivine; Marinkovic, Petar; Krieger, Lukas; Larsen, Yngvar; Valentino, Antonio; Breit, Helko; Balss, Ulrich; Suchandt, Steffen; Nagler, Thomas; Eineder, Michael; Miranda, Nuno
Peer reviewed, Journal article
Published version
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https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3061197Utgivelsesdato
2022Metadata
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Originalversjon
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 2022, 60 . 10.1109/TGRS.2022.3194216Sammendrag
This article introduces the extended timing annotation dataset (ETAD) product for Sentinel-1 (S-1) which was developed in a joint effort of German Aerospace Center (DLR) and European Space Agency (ESA). It allows to correct range and azimuth timing of S-1 images for geophysical effects and for inaccuracies in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image focusing. In combination with the precise orbit solution, these effects determine the absolute geolocation accuracy of S-1 SAR images and the relative collocation accuracy of repeat pass image stacks. ETAD contains the gridded timing corrections for the tropospheric and ionospheric path delays, the tidal-based surface displacements, and the SAR processing effects, all of which are computed for each data taken using standard models from geodesy and auxiliary atmospheric data. The ETAD product helps S-1 users to significantly improve the geolocation accuracy of the S-1 SAR products to better than 0.2 m and offers a potential solution for correcting large-scale interferometric phase variations. The product layout and product generation are described schematically. This article also reports first the results for different SAR techniques: first, the improvement in geolocation accuracy down to a few centimeters by verification of accurately surveyed corner reflector positions in the range–azimuth plane; second, the well-established offset-tracking technique, which is used for systematic ice velocity monitoring of ice sheets and glaciers, where ETAD can reduce velocity biases down to subcentimetric values; and third, the correction of atmospheric phase contributions in wide-area interferograms used for national and European ground motion services. These early results proof the added value of the ETAD corrections and that the product design is well-suited to be integrated into the processing flows of established SAR applications such as absolute ranging of targets, speckle/feature tracking, and interferometry.