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Onboard Data Compression of Synthetic Aperture Radar Data: Status and ProspectsSynthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments on spacecraft are capable of producing huge quantities of data. Onboard lossy data compression is commonly used to reduce the burden on the communication link. In this paper an overview is given of various SAR data compression techniques, along with an assessment of how much improvement is possible (and practical) and how to approach the problem of obtaining it. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments on spacecraft are capable of acquiring huge quantities of data. As a result, the available downlink rate and onboard storage capacity can be limiting factors in mission design for spacecraft with SAR instruments. This is true both for Earth-orbiting missions and missions to more distant targets such as Venus, Titan, and Europa. (Of course for missions beyond Earth orbit downlink rates are much lower and thus potentially much more limiting.) Typically spacecraft with SAR instruments use some form of data compression in order to reduce the storage size and/or downlink rate necessary to accommodate the SAR data. Our aim here is to give an overview of SAR data compression strategies that have been considered, and to assess the prospects for additional improvements.
Document ID
20150008632
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Klimesh, Matthew A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Moision, Bruce
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
May 20, 2015
Publication Date
August 10, 2008
Subject Category
Communications And Radar
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology Conference
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: August 10, 2008
End Date: August 14, 2008
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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