Bistatic Observations Research Articles

Analysis of CYGNSS coherent reflectivity over land for the characterization of pan-tropical inundation dynamics

The monitoring of flood and wetland dynamics at global scale is hampered by several limitations, including a reduced data availability in tropical areas due to the presence of clouds affecting visible and infrared imagery, or low spatial and/or temporal resolutions affecting passive and active microwave Earth Observation (EO) data. As a consequence, surface water extent estimates and their temporal variations remain challenging especially in equatorial river basins. Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) L-band signals recorded onboard Cyclone GNSS (CYGNSS) mission, composed of 8 Low Elevation Orbit (LEO) satellites, provide information on surface properties at high temporal resolution from 2017 up to now. CYGNSS bistatic observations were analyzed for detecting permanent water and seasonal floodplains over the full coverage of the mission, from 40°S to 40°N. We computed CYGNSS reflectivity associated to the coherent component of the received power, that was gridded at 0.1° spatial resolution with a 7-day time sampling afterwards. Several statistical metrics were derived from CYGNSS reflectivity, including the weighted mean and standard deviation, the median and the 90th percentile (respectively Γmean,Γstd,Γmedian and Γ90%) in each pixel. These parameters were clustered using the K-means algorithm with an implementation of the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) similarity measure. They were compared to static inundation maps, and to dynamic estimations of surface water extent both at the global and regional scales, using the Global Inundation Extent from Multi-Satellites (GIEMS) and MODIS-based products. The difference between Γ90% and Γmedian shows the best sensitivity to the presence of water. The river streams and lakes are correctly detected, and a strong seasonality is identified in CYGNSS reflectivity over the largest floodplains, with the exception of the Cuvette Centrale of Congo which is covered by dense vegetation. This seasonal reflectivity signal correlates well with inundation maps: Pearson’s correlation coefficient between Γmedian and surface water extent from both GIEMS and MODIS is over 0.8 in the largest floodplains. The spatial patterns of reflectivity are consistent with static inundation maps: at the time of maximum flooding extent, a spatial correlation coefficient around 0.75 with Γmedian is obtained for several basins. We also evaluated the dependence of CYGNSS-derived clusters and reflectivity on the dominant land cover type and on the density of Above Groud Biomass (AGB) in the pixel. On the one hand, misclassifications of flooded pixels were observed over vegetated regions, probably due to uncertainties related to the attenuation by the vegetation in both CYGNSS and reference datasets. On the other hand, flooded pixels with a mean AGB up to ∼300 Mg/ha were correctly detected with the clustering. High reflectivity values are also observed over rocky soils in arid regions and create false alarms. Finally, strong winds on large lakes cause surface roughness, and lower reflectivity values are observed in this case which weaken the detection of open water. While these constraints are to be taken in account and corrected in a future model, a pan-tropical mapping of surface water extent dynamics using CYGNSS can be envisaged.

Cassini Bistatic Radar Experiments: Preliminary Results on Titan’s Polar Regions

In bistatic radar observations, reflected echoes from the surface of a target planet can be analyzed to infer its surface statistics and near-surface constituents. In this work, a preliminary inspection of two X-band bistatic radar observations gathered by the Cassini spacecraft about Titan’s polar regions is presented. Profiles of relative dielectric constant and root-mean-square (rms) surface slope are provided as outputs of the analysis, discussed, and compared with the present knowledge of Titan geomorphology. For the assessment of the rms slope, proportional to the spectral broadening of reflected echoes, a basic fitting procedure was applied to the received spectra using a Gaussian template, to later evaluate the full-width half-maximum of the fitting curve. The dielectric constant was computed from the power ratio between orthogonally circularly polarized components of signal reflections from Titan. Dielectric constant estimates are, on average, consistent with the expected materials covering the dry surfaces of the planet, while slightly low values were found over the seas. The rms slopes are generally low compared to past bistatic observations of other targets. Titan’s north polar seas are revealed to feature an unprecedented smoothness, with 0.01^circ of slope as an upper bound. Similar values were inferred for isolated spots in the southern pole, hinting at the possible presence of basins filled with liquid hydrocarbons. The main issues with the analysis are emphasized throughout the document, and some ideas for future work are presented in the conclusions.

On the use of high-frequency surface wave oceanographic research radars as bistatic single-frequency oblique ionospheric sounders

Abstract. We demonstrate that bistatic reception of high-frequency oceanographic radars can be used as single-frequency oblique ionospheric sounders. We develop methods that are agnostic of the software-defined radio system to estimate the group range from the bistatic observations. The group range observations are used to estimate the virtual height and equivalent vertical frequency at the midpoint of the oblique propagation path. Uncertainty estimates of the virtual height and equivalent vertical frequency are presented. We apply this analysis to observations collected from two experiments run at two locations in different years, but utilizing similar software-defined radio data collection systems. In the first experiment, 10 d of data were collected in March 2016 at a site located in Maryland, USA, while the second experiment collected 20 d of data in October 2020 at a site located in South Carolina, USA. In both experiments, three Coastal Oceanographic Dynamics and Applications Radars (CODARs) located along the Virginia and North Carolina coast of the US were bistatically observed at 4.53718 MHz. The virtual height and equivalent virtual frequency were estimated in both experiments and compared with contemporaneous observations from a vertical incident digisonde–ionosonde at Wallops Island, VA, USA. We find good agreement between the oblique CODAR-derived and WP937 digisonde virtual heights. Variations in the virtual height from the CODAR observations and the digisonde are found to be nearly in phase with each other. We conclude from this investigation that observations of oceanographic radar can be used as single-frequency oblique incidence sounders. We discuss applications with respect to investigations of traveling ionospheric disturbances, studies of day-to-day ionospheric variability, and using these observations in data assimilation.

Bistatic Radar Observations Correlation of LEO Satellites Considering J2 Perturbation

Space debris near Earth severely interferes with the development of space, and cataloging space objects is increasingly important. Since optical telescopes and radars used to detect space debris only provide short-arc observations, mathematical algorithms are needed to solve problems in the correlation of observations. In this work, an efficient mathematical algorithm based on J2 analytic solutions is put forward. Initial orbit determination (IOD) serves as the starter and orbit determination (OD) with the weighted least-squares method (WLSM) is used to improve the accuracy of the estimated orbit. Meanwhile, the effect of the weight of different observation types is analyzed. The correlation criteria for bistatic radar observations are accordingly developed. Lastly, the variation in and evolution of the error of bistatic radar ranging are discussed.

Soil Moisture Retrieval Using Multistatic L-Band SAR and Effective Roughness Modeling

The interest in bistatic SAR systems for soil moisture monitoring has grown over recent years, since theoretical studies suggest that the impact of surface roughness on the retrieval of soil moisture decreases when multistatic, i.e., simultaneous mono- and bistatic, radar measurements are used. This paper presents a semi-empirical method to retrieve soil moisture over bare agricultural fields, based on effective roughness modeling, and applies it to a series of L-band fully-polarized SAR backscatter and bistatic scattering observations. The main advantage of using effective roughness parameters is that surface roughness no longer needs to be measured in the field, what is known to be the main source of error in soil moisture retrieval applications. By means of cross-validation, it is shown that the proposed method results in accurate soil moisture retrieval with an RMSE well below 0.05 m3/m3, with the best performance observed for the cross-polarized backscatter signal. In addition, different experimental SAR monostatic and bistatic configurations are evaluated in this study using the proposed retrieval technique. Results illustrate that the soil moisture retrieval performance increases by using backscatter data in multiple polarizations simultaneously, compared to the case where backscatter observations in only one polarization mode are used. Furthermore, the retrieval performance of a multistatic system has been evaluated and compared to that of a traditional monostatic system. The recent BELSAR campaign (in 2018) provides time-series of experimental airborne SAR measurements in two bistatic geometries, i.e., the across-track (XTI) and along-track (ATI) flight configuration. For both configurations, bistatic observations are available in the backward region. The results show that the simultaneous use of backscatter and bistatic scattering data does not result in a profound increase in retrieval performance for the bistatic configuration flown during BELSAR 2018. As theoretical studies demonstrate a strong improvement in retrieval performance when using backscatter and bistatic scattering coefficients in the forward region simultaneously, the introduction of additional bistatic airborne campaigns with more promising multistatic SAR configurations is highly recommended.

An Efficient Method for Cooperative Multi-Target Localization in Automotive Radar

We consider the problem of locating multiple targets using automotive radar by exploiting a pair of cooperative vehicles, which form a mono- and bi-static sensing system to provide spatial diversity for localization. Each of the two sub-systems can measure the target echoes. The problem is to determine the locations of multiple targets in the surrounding area. A conventional approach is to directly estimate the target locations from the joint distribution of the mono- and bi-static observations, which is computationally prohibitive. In this paper, we propose a efficient two-step method that first uses the delay and angle estimates from each individual system to determine initial target locations, which are subsequently refined via an association and fusion step. Specifically, we use a 2-dimensional (2-D) fast Fourier transform (FFT) based approach to obtain the delay and angle estimates of each target in a sequential manner. The delay/angle estimates obtained by mono-static and bi-static systems lead to two sets of initial target location estimates, which are then sorted and paired via a minimum distance criterion. Finally, the initial location estimates are fused/weighted according to the target strength observed by each system. Simulation results show that our cooperative approach yields significant improved performance over non-cooperative approaches using only the mono-static or bi-static sensing system.

Extraction of Absolute Water Level Using TanDEM-X Bistatic Observations With a Large Perpendicular Baseline

The application of Wetland synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) has often been restricted in practical hydrological monitoring because it is based on relative estimates of water level changes between two synthetic aperture radar acquisitions, as opposed to absolute water levels obtained by ground measurements. TanDEM-X bistatic observations can provide absolute water level estimates using simultaneous phase measurements by a two-satellite constellation with TerraSAR-X. We evaluated two datasets of TanDEM-X bistatic observations acquired during an experimental science phase on August 26 and 31, 2015, with a very large baseline configuration to extract absolute water levels of Everglades wetland in southern Florida, USA. The perpendicular baselines are 1.43 and 1.36 km, and the ambiguities of height were calculated as 3.61 and 3.90 m in each interferometric pair, respectively. Hourly water level measurements provided by the Everglades depth estimation network (EDEN) were used to verify the estimated absolute water levels. Several stage stations located in densely vegetated areas that showed incoherence were excluded from the verification as outliers. The verification results show an excellent agreement (degree of determination > 0.95) between the InSAR derived absolute water levels and the stage station measurements. The root mean square error (RMSE) between the TanDEM-X results and stage records was 0.77 and 0.66 m, respectively. Severe volume decorrelations over the vegetated area, owing to the large perpendicular baselines, were detected, despite near zero temporal baseline of the bistatic observations. The absolute water levels can be used as excellent constraints for wetland surface flow models.

Sensitivity Analysis of Bistatic Scattering for Soil Moisture Retrieval

Soil moisture is one of the vital environmental variables in the land–atmosphere cycle. A study of the sensitivity analysis of bistatic scattering coefficients from bare soil at the Ku-band is presented, with the aim of deepening our understanding of the bistatic scattering features and exploring its potential in soil moisture retrieval. First, a well-established advanced integral method was adopted for simulating the bistatic scattering response of bare soil. Secondly, a sensitivity index and a normalized weight quality index were proposed to evaluate the effect of soil moisture on the bistatic scattering coefficient in terms of polarization and angular diversity, and the combinations thereof. The results of single-polarized VV data show that the regions with the maximum sensitivity and high quality index, simultaneously, to soil moisture are in the forward off-specular direction. However, due to the effect of surface roughness and surface autocorrelation function (ACF), the single-polarized data have some limitations for soil moisture inversion. By contrast, the results of two different polarization combinations, as well as a dual-angular simulation of one transmitter and two receivers, show significant estimation benefits. It can be seen that they all provide better ACF suppression capabilities, larger high-sensitivity area, and higher quality indices compared to single-polarized estimation. In addition, dual polarization or dual angular combined measurement provides the possibility of retrieving soil moisture in backward regions. These results are expected to contribute to the design of future bistatic observation systems.

Bistatic Observations With SuperDARN HF Radars: First Results

AbstractSuper Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars operate in a coordinated but monostatic configuration whereby high‐frequency (HF) signals scattered from ionospheric density irregularities or from the surface of the Earth return to the transmitting radar where Doppler parameters are then acquired. A bistatic arrangement has been developed for SuperDARN radars in which HF signals transmitted from one radar are received and analyzed by another radar that is separated by a large distance (>1,000 km). This new capability was developed and tested on radars located in Oregon and Kansas. Numerous 3‐day bistatic campaigns have been conducted over a period extending from September 2019 through March 2020. During these campaigns three distinct bistatic propagation modes have been identified including a direct mode in which signals are transmitted and received through the radar side lobes. Direct mode signals propagate along the great‐circle arc connecting the two bistatic radar sites, reflecting from the ionosphere at both E region and F region altitudes. Two additional modes are observed in which HF signals transmitted from one radar scatter from either ionospheric density irregularities or from the surface of the Earth before propagating to the bistatic receiving radar. Ray tracing simulations performed for examples of each mode show good agreement with observations and confirm our understanding of these three bistatic propagation modes. Bistatic campaigns continue to be scheduled in order to improve technical aspects of this new capability, to further explore the physical processes involved in the propagation and scattering of HF bistatic signals and to expand the coverage of ionospheric effects that is possible with SuperDARN.

Surface Parameters Retrieval from Fully Bistatic Radar Scattering Data

Fully bistatic radar scattering from rough surfaces is of vital importance in terrain remote sensing, but results in bulky data volume. The scattering is dependent on physical parameters of the media and is controlled by the radar observation geometry. Together, the two sets of parameters determine the scattering patterns in a bistatic plane confined by incident and polar angles in both incident and scattering directions. For radar remote sensing, it is desirable to infer surface parameters of interest, with satisfactory accuracy, from large volumes of measured data sets. This is essentially a task of data mining. In this paper, we present model-generated bistatic radar scattering data, followed by a sensitivity analysis, to identify a suitable configuration in terms of parameter inversion from fully bistatic measurements by a Kalman filter-trained dynamic learning neural network (DLNN). Results indicate that with bistatic observation, superior retrieval performance (as compared to backscattering observation) can be readily achieved.

Feature Extraction of Micro-Motional Targets Via Time-Range Distribution

The micro-motional period is an important feature for spatial target discrimination. Firstly, the movement and wideband echo models of wobbling targets with bistatic observations are introduced. Then, the characteristics of the mono-/bi-static high-resolution range profiles (HRRPs) with different polarizations are analyzed based on the simulation echoes of the wobbling target via the electromagnetic calculations. Finally, the observed HRRP sequence is employed to construct a time-range distribution matrix, and an estimation method of the micro-motional period is proposed based on the time-range distribution matrix correlation, which is validated by the measurement experiments in the anechoic chamber.

Multi-static spatial and angular studies of polar mesospheric summer echoes combining MAARSY and KAIRA

Abstract. Polar mesospheric summer echoes (PMSEs) have been long associated with noctilucent clouds (NLCs). For large ice particles sizes and relatively high ice densities, PMSEs at 3 m Bragg wavelengths are known to be good tracers of the atmospheric wind dynamics and to be highly correlated with NLC occurrence. Combining the Middle Atmosphere ALOMAR Radar System (MAARSY) and the Kilpisjärvi Atmospheric Imaging Receiver Array (KAIRA), i.e., monostatic and bistatic observations, we show for the first time direct evidence of limited-volume PMSE structures drifting more than 90 km almost unchanged. These structures are shown to have horizontal widths of 5–15 km and are separated by 20–60 km, consistent with structures due to atmospheric waves previously observed in NLCs from the ground and from space. Given the lower sensitivity of KAIRA, the observed features are attributed to echoes from regions with high Schmidt numbers that provide a large radar cross section. The bistatic geometry allows us to determine an upper value for the angular sensitivity of PMSEs at meter scales. We find no evidence for strong aspect sensitivity for PMSEs, which is consistent with recent observations using radar imaging approaches. Our results indicate that multi-static all-sky interferometric radar observations of PMSEs could be a powerful tool for studying mesospheric wind fields within large geographic areas.

Wide band three-dimensional polarization selective electromagnetic murky diffusion spherical shell hyper-structure with a transmission band formed by subwavelength units

A Murky Diffusion Shell (MDS) hyper-structure is proposed and realized with an experiment showing its invisibility and its transmission function in the electromagnetic frequency range. A predefined spatial distribution is found to possess a completely different property with its homogeneous constructing unit cell, proving structure plays a prominent role. Thus we define MDS, which is analogous to a cloud of electromagnetic smoke or fog, as a form of new concept, a hyper-structure. Proper probability density is found to generate wide band low reflectivity in mono-static and bi-static observation angles. The directional structure in MDS also generates transmission characteristics with polarization, frequency, and azimuth selectivity to enable possible information communication with the outside for inclusion. MDS could easily fit in an arbitrary 3D or 2D shell shape with a smooth surface or a discontinuous edge, and does not need a PEC lining. MDS shell is fabricated and the experiment measurements show monostatic scattering reduction reaches well below −10dB with a bandwidth ratio of 69.3% and a bi-static scattering reduction that reaches well below −10dB with a bandwidth ratio of 82.8% when the PEC disk object is wrapped by MDS, which complies with the simulation results.

Bistatic Radar Systems at Large Baselines for Ocean Observation

The capabilities of bistatic radar observations to estimate the wind field over the ocean are investigated in this paper. The work is based on the analysis of simulated data obtained through a well-established electromagnetic model, which accounts for the anisotropy of the ocean’s spectrum and of second-order effects of the scattering phenomenon. Both co-polarized and cross-polarized C-band numerical data, obtained considering monostatic and bistatic configurations, are exploited to investigate on the existence of optimal configurations able to minimize the wind vector error estimation. To this aim, the sensitivities of the bistatic normalized radar cross section with respect to both wind speed and direction are accurately investigated and exploited to evaluate the minimum achievable error standard deviation of the estimation. Small and large baselines are analyzed, giving particular emphasis to bistatic geometries constituted by one or two passive receivers aligned along the track defined by the active system. This investigation, originally performed in the framework of the SAOCOM-CS scientific satellite mission, is conceived to accurately assess the potentiality of bistatic observations of the ocean over variable baselines and to gather valuable information for the design of future bistatic satellite missions.

Bistatic Coherent Polarimetric Scattering of Randomly Corrugated Layered Snow Surfaces

We analyzed the bistatic coherent scattering mechanism of a layered randomly corrugated snow surface, a typical rough surface, with radar polarimetry theory whose scattering matrix was obtained from a physical-based full wave numerical simulation by solving Maxwell's equations. The effects of top–bottom structure, layer thickness, frequency response, and angular dependence are illustrated by observing stokes vector, coherence matrix, and Kennaugh matrix. The results show that top–bottom structure and snow thickness change the state of polarization depending on frequency and bistatic configuration. Analyzing the bistatic polarimetric scattering mechanism based on numerical simulation and the polarimetry theory can be an efficacious source for configuring bistatic observation to detect and classify radar targets. For example, observation at a specular angle of 55° comparatively contains more information on surface structure, and wave entropy is more preferable over degree of polarization as a snow surface structure estimator. Moreover, parameters from Kennaugh decomposition can indicate top–bottom structure better than layer thickness. Last but not the least, we also found that the symmetry assumption commonly used in classical theory of polarization is generally not valid for bistatic observation, and the combination of some Huynen parameters can be reasonably good indicators of snow surface structural symmetry. We expect this paper to offer deeper understanding of the coherent imaging of snow surfaces and to help design a novel bistatic imaging system for layered snow surface.

Inclined Geosynchronous Spaceborne–Airborne Bistatic SAR: Performance Analysis and Mission Design

Geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar (GEO-SAR) offers new opportunities for continuous Earth observation missions with large coverage and short revisit cycle. The unique features of GEO-SAR present huge potentials for bistatic observation applications. In this paper, the concept and advantages of GEO bistatic SAR (GEO-BiSAR) are first investigated. The system consists of a GEO illuminator and an airborne receiver, such as an airplane or a near-space vehicle. Compared with a monostatic GEO-SAR system, the bistatic configuration can provide finer spatial resolution and higher signal-to-noise ration (SNR) with less system complexity. The spatial resolution characteristics are then analyzed based on generalized ambiguity function, where the time-varying GEO velocity, Earth rotation, and ellipsoid Earth surface are taken into consideration. Meanwhile, the bistatic SNR is analyzed using the integration equation model. In this paper, the mission design for GEO-BiSAR aims at identifying a set of receiver flight parameters and bistatic configurations to obtain the desired spatial resolution and SNR. Based on the desired imaging performance of a specific application background, the mission design process is modeled as a nonlinear equation system (NES). Finally, a mission design method based on fast nondominated sorting genetic algorithm is proposed to solve the NES and obtain multiple optimal solutions to guide the receiver flight missions. Examples of the mission design process are given to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results of the mission design can be conveniently used to guide the receiver flight mission for the desired imaging performance, which is highly desirable in practical applications.

First ever cross comparison of thermospheric wind measured by narrow‐ and wide‐field optical Doppler spectroscopy

AbstractWe present the first ever cross comparisons of F region horizontal neutral wind measurements taken using two different types of optical Doppler spectrometer: all‐sky scanning Doppler imagers (SDI) and narrow‐field Fabry‐Perot interferometers (NFPIs). Horizontal neutral winds were inferred using bistatic observations from three NFPIs, together with monostatic and bistatic observations from two SDIs. All instruments were located in Alaska. Cross comparisons were made for a total of seven nights in January and February 2010. The results show a high degree of correlation between the diurnal behaviors of the line‐of‐sight (LOS) winds measured by both instruments. The SDI and NFPI LOS wind time series also often contained high‐frequency fluctuations with similar overall characteristics, strongly suggesting that these fluctuations were geophysical in origin. However, the amplitude of the high‐frequency component was stronger in the NFPI LOS wind than in the SDI data. Even the smallest SDI angular resolution element is much larger than the NFPI field of view, suggesting that its relative insensitivity to high frequencies is because these fluctuations are associated with local‐scale structures whose spatial extent is smaller than ∼40 km spanned by the smallest SDI viewing field. Upon fitting vectors to the LOS wind data, close agreement was found between the wind components estimated by the two types of instrument. Discrepancies that did arise occurred most often when the neutral wind speed was weak, suggesting that conditions capable of driving higher neutral wind speeds also suppressed the development of small‐scale structures in the thermospheric neutral wind fields.

A Study on Space Debris Observation System Using Radio Telescope

The capability of space debris observation system using radio telescope was analysed in the present paper. The special bi-static observation system includes radar and large radio telescope. Detectable range of fixed RCS targets and detection ability of small space debris at fixed range were discussed respectively. The simulations of this particular observation system were implemented. The simulating results were approximately correct comparing with the actual Effelsberg experiments. The analysis of this paper gives a theoretical basis of space debris observation by domestic large radio telescope.

Reconstructing parameters of sediment layers of a shallow sea bottom using broadband seismoacoustic sources

We study the possibilities of reconstructings the parameters of the sediment layers of a shallow sea bottom from interference patterns appearing during sounding of the bottom by broadband seismoacoustic sources with a bistatic sea-bottom sounding scheme, adaptive signal reception with a horizontal array, and matched filtration of low-frequency seismoacoustic pulses excited with an air gun and interacting with the sea bottom, as well as seismoacoustic noise from a vessel in a shallow sea. The parameters of sediment layers of the sea bottom are reconstructed by statistical checking of hypotheses on the parameters of dynamic spectra obtained by parametric models. Comparative possibilities of reconstructing sea bottom parameters with bistatic and monostatic observation schemes are discussed.

Sensitivity of bistatic scattering to soil moisture and surface roughness of bare soils

The sensitivity of bistatic scattering coefficient σ° to soil moisture content (SMC) and surface roughness was investigated by means of model simulations of the incoherent scattered fields performed with the advanced integral equation model (AIEM) and the second order small perturbation model (SPM). The study was performed by simulating scattering on the whole upper half space, for different values of incident angles. The achieved results, represented as maps of σ° as a function of azimuth and zenith angles, were evaluated by means of a quality index which takes into consideration the effect of roughness on SMC measurement. The sensitivity analysis has pointed out that for measuring SMC a bistatic observation, by itself or combined with the monostatic one, can make appreciable improvements with respect to classical monostatic radar. Appendix A contains the AIEM formulas corrected for several typographical errors present in the specific literature.