ON THE OPTIMIZATION OF INTERFEROMETRIC SAR FOR TOPOGRAPHIC MAPPING

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides the possibility of producing topographic maps and cartographically corrected radar images using an interferometric method. The technique requires two SAR image s of the same area gathered from slightly separated positions. The int erferometric baseline may be optimized to minimize the topographic alt itude error. This paper investigates the altitude error caused by the radar system and by the topography, and simulates an interferometric m easurement based on ERS-1 SAR parameters. It is found that the terrain topography has a significant effect on the height error, which in man y cases is more severe than baseline decorrelation.