1. ECOSAR
THE FIRST P- BAND DIGITAL BEAMFORMING POLARIMETRIC INTERFEROMETRIC SAR
INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE, BIOMASS, AND SURFACE WATER
GSFC Science
Temilola Fatoyinbo
Jon Ranson
Guoqing Sun
GSFC Engineering
Rafael Rincon
Manohar Deshpande
Martin Perrine
Quenton Bonds
Matthew Mclinden
External Partners
Richard Hale (University of Kansas)
Intelligence Automation Inc.
ESTO-IIP 2011-2014

2. ECOSAR SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
P-band Digital Beamforming Polarimetric Interferometric SAR:
• Dual Antennas with 25 m baseline
• Center frequency of 435 MHz (69 cm wavelength)
• Range resolution (8 m – 44 m)
• High resolution science mode (1.3 m)
• Polarization HH, VV, HV, VH
• Digital Beamforming
EcoSAR will fly on the NASA P3
airplane based at Wallops Flight
Facility

3. MAIN SCIENCE OBJECTIVES
EcoSAR instrument will quantify:
• Biomass (up to 200 Mg/ha from Polarimetric SAR)
• Canopy and Surface Height ( 1m accuracy from PolInSAR)
• Ecosystem structure and extent (range resolution of 1.3 m)
• Disturbance and recovery

4. SCIENCE OBJECTIVES
• These measurements are crucial for future SAR mission
validation (DesdynI, BIOMASS, Tandem-L)
• Improved Carbon and forest structure estimates will support
international C reduction initiatives (REDD+)
• How are the Earth's carbon cycle and ecosystems
changing, and what are the consequences for the Earth's
carbon budget, ecosystem sustainability, and biodiversity?

5. WHY P-BAND
• Longer wavelengths (L- and P- band) are able to penetrate the
canopy and are scattered by larger components, such as the trunk
and the ground and thereby increase the returned signal.
P-Band (HH,HV,VV)
Dark areas in this image are recent
disturbance from logging.

6. P-Band Measurements of Boreal & Temperate Forest Biomass
P-Band (HH,HV,VV) L-Band (HH,HV,VV) C-Band (HH,HV,VV)
200
Field Stem Biomass (tons/ha)
P-band Algorithm
R=0.954
150
100
50
Saatchi & Moghaddam 2000
0
0 50 100 150 200
SAR Predicted Stem Biomass
P-Band Estimated Forest Stem
Biomass vs Field measurements in
Boreal Forests (R2 = 0.9)
P-Band SAR Measures Boreal & temperate Forest
Biomass up to 200 Mg/ha with ±10% Accuracy Saatchi & Moghaddam, 2000

7. AirSAR P-Band SAR Measurement of Tropical Forest
Disturbance and Aboveground Biomass
(HH, HV, VV)
AirSAR P-band Image (1993)
Manu National Park, Peru

8. Pol-InSAR height measurements:
• Polarization is sensitive to scattering
mechanisms with different interferometric
scattering phase centers
• EcoSAR will allow us to separate ground signal
from canopy signal and derive canopy height.
HV
H
H
HV
scattering
phase
center
HH
scattering
phase
center

9. Example of SAR and InSAR
using DBSAR (L-band) measurements
Height (m)

10. EcoSAR Concept

11. EcoSAR + DBSAR

12. Schedule and Milestones
Year 1
Definition of the EcoSAR science and system and requirements
Antenna Arrays Design and fabrication
Radar Electronics Unit Design and fabrication
Year 2
Completion of Waveform generator/data system
Testing and programming of waveform generator/data system
Radar Electronics evaluation, testing and initial assembly.
Full system integration and testing in laboratory and in anechoic chamber.
Year 3
Installation and test flight operation of the system on the NASA P-3 aircraft
Validation of EcoSAR test flight data sets
Field Campaign 1 New Hampshire and Maine
Field Campaign 2 Costa Rica
Science Retrievals from EcoSAR campaigns

13. FIELD CAMPAIGNS
New England Summer 2013 Costa Rica Winter 2014
+ Wallops & SERC

14. CURRENT STATUS
• Successfully completed the design of prototype dual polarized wideband
P-band antenna element.
• Simulations of Full array performance is underway.
• Preliminary Aerodynamic analysis on antenna structure has been
performed.
• Several radar transceiver designs have been formulated and evaluated.
Components specifications and availability are being investigated.
• Waiting for contract to IAI to begin processor development.