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An improved numerical scattering model with the 2-dimensional moment method including roof-top basis and a modified window- function to reduce edge-effect is presented in this study. The roof-top basis function is used to depict randomly positioned surface cu-rrents and increase an efficiency of the moment method. To reduce the edge-effect which occurs at the end of numerically generated surfaces, an enhanced window-function which is weighted by incident angle variable is proposed. To validate an proposed 2-dimensional scattering model and numerical analysis techniques for randomly rough surfaces, computational results are compared and analyzed to SPM(Small Perturbation Model) as well. Key words: Rough Surface, Moment Method, Roof-Top Basis, Edge-Effect Reduction, Small Perturbation Model _`a22013b Yc(^d ef c)%g!CE hg I%i!+jk lKmn(No. 2013-005336).o pqre^:sYtuvwe (Department of Electronic Information and Communication Engineering, Hongik University)Manuscript received December 20, 2013 ; Revised February 20, 2014 ; Accepted February 24, 2014. (ID No. 20131220-129)Corresponding Author: Yisok Oh (e-mail: yisokoh@hongik.ac.kr)

The input parameters of scattering models for computing the backscattering coefficients of earth terrains are mainly soil moisture and surface roughness. The backscattering coefficients of soil surfaces are more sensitive to surface roughness than soil moisture. In this study, we propose a precise measurement method for roughness parameters and analyze measurement errors. We measured surface roughness using a pin-board profiler(1 m, 0.5 cm interval) and a laser profiler(1 m, 0.25 cm interval). The measurement differences between two profilers in an average sense are 0.097 cm for root-mean-square (RMS) height and 1.828 cm for correlation length. The analysis of the correlation functions and relative errors shows that the laser measurements are more stable than the pin-board measurements. The differences of the calculated backscattering coefficients using a surface scattering model between pin-board and laser profiler measurements are less than 1 dB.

This paper presents a study on the calibration of a C-band HPS(Hongik Polarimetric Scatterometer) system using the DMMCT(Differential Mueller Matrix Calibration Technique). For calibration of the polarimetric scatterometer system, a fully-polarimetric antenna pattern(magnitudes and phase-differences) of the antenna main-beam is measured using a conducting sphere at anechoic chamber. The polarimetric scatterometer system could be accurately calibrated after retrieving its distortions using the DMMCT. Unlike a single-polarimetric system, in a fully-polarimetric system, not only backscattering coefficients but also phase differences are important parameters. This calibrated HPS system can be used to measure accurate Mueller matrices of bare soil surfaces, rice paddies, and vegetation fields. The phase-difference parameters as well as the backscattering coefficients for co- and cross-polarizations can then be obtained. The accuracy of calibration was verified by comparing the measured backscattering coefficients with a scattering model. The measured polarization response of a plowed bare field was also compared with the polarization response which was synthesized using a polarimetric scattering model for verifying the calibration technique.

Measurement and analysis results of the extracted radiation-patterns from the field-experiments which were conducted to acquire the generic technology for calibration and validation of the satellite SAR system(Synthetic Aperture Radar) are presented in this study. Prototype of active transponder is adjustable within maximum 63.1 dBsm of RCS (Radar Cross Section) and includes the receiving-function with external receiver. To increase an accuracy of these field experiments, we repetitively measured satellite SAR systems of the same operating mode(i.e., COSMO-SkyMed No. 2 & 3, hh-pol., strip-map himage mode, 3 m resolution). Then, the reliability of experimental results was cross-checked through analysis of the RCS of active transponder on SAR image. The property of azimuth radiation patterns of satellite SAR system extracted from them has of HPBW(half-power beamwidth), of FNBW(first-null beamwidth), and 11.17 dB of PSLR(peak to side lobe ratio), respectively.

An improved method of moments using a hybrid Galerkin-interpolation technique for numerical analysis of electromagnetic wave scattering in the 3-dimensional space is presented in this paper. Basically, the EFIE(electric field integral equation) and RWG(Rao-Wilton-Glisson) basis function are used to compute a property of electromagnetic wave scattering. We propose a hybrid technique combining the existing Galerkin`s method with the interpolation method to improve the efficiency of the numerical computation. Then, an index of relative distance of each cells was defined to distinguish the relatively far elements, which interpolation method can be applied. To verify the performance of the proposed technique, the analytical Mie-series solution was used to compute the theoretical RCS of a conducting sphere for the purpose of comparison. We also applied this hybrid technique to various scatterers such as trihedral/omni-directional corner-reflectors to analyze the radar backscattering properties.

A C-band ground-based rotational SAR system is presented in this paper. The rotaional SAR system is a test-bed for future rotational SAR systems which can be deployed in space and on a tower. The test-bed system is designed for imaging the electromagnetic scattering from earth surfaces and buried targets. This paper also presents the examination results of the generated SAR images. This rotational SAR system is basically consisted of the network-analyzer based HPS(Hongik Polarimetric Scatterometer) and a horizontally rotating arm. Several SAR images were obtained using the rotational SAR system for various target areas. To verify this system, we simulated the SAR images for the rotational SAR using the FDTD algorithm and compared between the measured and simulated SAR images. The rotational SAR system is operated at the center frequency of 5 GHz and various frequency bandwidth within 0.5~2 GHz to change the resolution of SAR images.

A study of miniaturization of an L-band orthomode transducer(OMT) for field experiments of radar backscatter is presented in this paper. The proposed OMT is not required the additional waveguide taper structures to connect with a standard adaptor by the newly designed junction structure which bases on a waveguide taper. Total length of the OMT for L-band is about 1.2 (310 mm) and it`s a size of 60 % of the existing OMTs. And, to increase the matching and isolation performances of each polarization, two conducting posts are inserted. The bandwidth of 420 MHz and the isolation level of about 40 dB are measured in the operating frequency. The L-band scatterometer consisting of the manufactured OMT, a horn-antenna and network analyzer(Agilent 8753E) was used STCT and 2DTST to analysis the measurement accuracy of radar backscatter. The full-polarimetric RCSs of test-target, 55 cm trihedral corner reflector, measured by the calibrated scatterometer have errors of -0.2 dB and 0.25 dB for vv-/hh-polarization, respectively. The effective isolation level is about 35.8 dB in the operating frequency. Then, the horn-antenna used to measure has the length of 300 mm, the aperture size of , and HPBWs of and on the principle E-/H-planes.

A study on the RCS of a self-manufactured active transponder, which has a manually adjustable RCS, for SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar) external calibration and image analysis at X-band is presented in this paper. The RCS of the active transponder was comparably analyzed using the lab-test and the COSMO-SkyMed SAR system, and also precisely analyzed the difference between the adjusted and estimated RCSs. A maximum RCS of the designed and manufactured active transponder is 60 dBsm. The active transponders with 60 dBsm and the adjusted RCS of 40 dBsm were measured using the single target calibration technique(STCT) and 2D target scanning technique(2DTST). And the extracted RCS using power-spill integration technique in a SAR image was compared with the measured RCS of active transponder. The comparison results show that the measured and extracted RCSs are 59.7 dBsm, 40.2 dBsm and 57.3 dBsm, 39.2 dBsm, respectively.

A study on the calibration of an X-band HPS(Hongik Polarimetric Scatterometer) system for ground-based operation is presented in this paper. In order to calibrate the scatterometer system, the degree of its distortions are analyzed by comparison between theoretical- and measured-values using the theoretically well-known calibration targets such as a metal sphere, a trihedral corner reflector(CR) and a metal cylinder. The calibration works in the field conditions depend on the precise and stable measurements of those calibration target. we present a measurement technique, so-called, an automatic 2-D target-scanning technique, using the incidence-angle( and directions) control of HPS system. Then, we used STCT(Single-Target Calibration Technique) and GCT(General Calibration Technique) to calibrate a distortion of the scatterometer system, and measured the polarimetric RCS(Radar Cross Section) and phase-difference of a trihedral-CR as a test-target to verify the accuracy of the calibration technique. Then, three different types(i.e., 10, 20, 30 cm) of trihedral-CR were used. we obtained the error ranges about dB, dB in a polarimetric RCS and about and in the co-polarized phase-difference by using the GCT and STCT, respectively.

A full-polarimetric scatterometer(HPS: Hongik Polarimetric Scatterometer) for X-band is designed, fabricated, and verified using the theoretically well-known point-targets in this paper. The X-band full-polarimetric scatterometer consists of an OMT(Orthogonal-Mode Transducer)+horn antenna, the angle control part for the OMT+horn antenna, a transmitter/receiver with a network analyzer and a frequency-conversion circuitry, and a movable support of these parts. We use an inclinometer sensor to control the vertical and horizontal incidence angles. The full polarimetric data can be obtained because of the polarization switches and the OMT. The accuracy of the scatterometer system is verified by measuring the polarimetric RCS(Radar Cross Section) of one of the theoretically well-known point-targets, i.e., a corner reflector.