Issues and challenges for standardizing level zero format for SAR data

Abstract

The increased availability and use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for interferometric processing has raised the need of raw SAR data in level zero format. At present, these data sets are provided in formats such as Sky Telemetry Format (STF) and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Superstructure (CEOS). Gleaning the required information from the wealth of available information in these data formats makes these data formats inefficient for the user community. The need for defining a standard for level zero data is one of the challenges faced by the SAR community. It requires understanding the data processing needs for various applications and a consensus on the parameters that need to be included in the standard. This paper summarizes the issues that need to be addressed in defining a standard for level zero SAR data. It discusses the inclusion of swath based data versus frame based data. The importance of clearly defining and standardizing the units for each field in the record is emphasized. It concludes with suggestions on ways to keep the format compact, meaningful and complete.