SAR Snapshot of Sicily
The German aerospace center, DLR, now has the twin synthetic aperture radar spacecraft TerraSar-X and Tandem-X operating in formation.
With that capability in hand, the radar satellites now can take stereo images of points on the ground to deliver enhanced accuracy.
Here is a DLR-released picture of Mt. Etna, the Sicilian volcano, derived using that bistatic technique:
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![blog post photo][1]
][2] The two satellites took the image of Mt. Etna at the same time to be able to build a three-dimensional picture. The satellites were within 350 meters of each other.
The derived picture has a height accuracy down to 2 meters. The bistatic imaging technique is deriving much greater performance than was achieved with the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, DLR says.
[1]: http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/9/7/d9f53789-c6a9-4e66-97c3-7e7e53c970e3.Large.jpg [2]: http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/9/7/d9f53789-c6a9-4e66-97c3-7e7e53c970e3.Full.jpg (Click here to view this image at full size in another window…)
