Obtaining Titan Surface Heights Using Cassini Synthetic Aperture RADAR Echo Data

Details Obtaining Titan Surface Heights Using Cassini Synthetic Aperture RADAR Echo Data Obtaining Titan Surface Heights Using Cassini Synthetic Aperture RADAR Echo Data

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.5607s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #56.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.586

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Scientific paper

One of the more vexing dilemmas for RADAR remote sensing is the necessity to choose between altimetry and SAR imaging of a surface. For the Cassini RADAR team, coincident surface height estimates would be very useful in aiding the analysis of the unique surface features we have seen in the SAR imagery of Titan. Unfortunately, radar altimetry is optimally obtained from nadir observations; whereas SAR requires off-nadir observation in order to construct an image.
Here we discuss a technique for obtaining coarse resolution (50 km horizontal, 200 m vertical) surface height estimates along the center of the SAR swath. The method requires: 1) accurate s/c pointing, 2) accurate s/c ephemeris, 3) accurate Titan orbital information, 4) precise knowledge of the antenna pattern of the RADAR, and 5) down-linked echo data covering the entire antenna footprint. The fourth and fifth requirements are met through synergy with Cassini SAR coverage requirements. Cassini SAR commanding and pointing was designed to utilize as much of the antenna footprint as possible in order to maximize coverage. The accuracy of the surface height estimation technique is adversely affected by backscatter variation within the footprint. This shortcoming is overcome by averaging results from multiple footprints and through human interaction.
We describe the technique and present results for those SAR passes for which its requirements are met. We then validate the technique by comparing the results with a geological analysis of the coincident SAR images.
This work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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