Evaluation of terrain models for the geocoding and terrain correction, of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images

The variability of the resolutions and the presence of artifacts cause inaccurate correction of the terrain-induced geometric distortions in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images. To quantify the effects of these inaccuracies on SAR terrain correction, corrections of a Seasat SAR image were performed using a 1 degrees US Geological Survey (USGS) terrain model, a 7.5-min USGS terrain model, and a terrain model derived from stereoimagery acquired from SPOT. Geometric verifications of the corrected imagery showed that the resolution of the 1 degrees terrain model is not adequate to resolve many features in the Seasat image. Geometric verifications of images corrected with the two higher resolution terrain models showed localized errors as large as 52 m for mountain peaks. However, comparison of data corrected with those models shows that both produce results that differ by less than the resolution of either of them. Periodic artifacts observed in the terrain models translated to ground range differences of 18 m, which are well below the resolution of the SAR imagery.