Design and Implementation of a Multi-Band Active Radar Calibrator for SAR

Abstract

Over the past decade, IECAS (Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) has developed a set of L-, S-, C-, and X-band active radar calibrators that are deployed during the calibration campaigns for HJ1C synthetic aperture radar (SAR), Gaofen-3 SAR, and so on. In the near future, P-band and Ka-band spaceborne SARs will be launched. We found that it is not convenient to develop special active radar calibrators (ARCs) for a specific SAR or a specific frequency band SAR, and the acquired experience could help in the design and development of a multi-band ARC. This paper describes the design and implementation of a multi-band active radar calibrator which can operate in the L-, C-, X-, and Ka-bands. Moreover, laboratory measurements are performed to characterize the performance of the multi-band ARC, paying particular attention to the gain stability, the system transfer function, the gain flatness, and the linearity of the ARC receiver. Three such ARCs are developed, and to our knowledge, the multi-band ARC is the first of its kind in China or even in the world, and it can be used to implement the calibration campaigns of the Chinese Gaofen-3 SAR, Shenzhen-1 SAR, Luojia-2 SAR, and so on.