SAR Product Control Software

As SAR instruments and their operating modes become more complex, as new applications place more and more demands on image quality and as our understanding of their imperfections becomes more sophisticated, there is increasing recognition that SAR data quality has to be controlled more completely to keep pace. The SAR product CONtrol software (SARCON) is a comprehensive SAR product control software suite tailored to the latest generation of SAR sensors. SARCON profits from the most up-to-date thinking on SAR image performance derived from other spaceborne and airborne SAR projects and is based on the newest applications. This paper gives an overview of the structure and the features of this new software tool, which is a product of a co-operation between teams at BAE SYSTEMS Advanced Technology Centre and DLR under contract to ESA (ESRIN). Work on SARCON began in 1999 and is continuing.