CV-580

Sensor C/X SAR (C-band/X-band synthetic-aperture radar)
Platform CV-580 (Convair 580 aircraft)
Data distributor

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Natural Resources Canada

Sections

Data product name and version
Distribution disk files
Returned data
Returned metadata
References

Data product name and version

Short Name Long Name Version
SLC-Q Single-look Complex, Standard Quad Polarization None
MLC-Q Multi-look Complex, Standard Symmetrized Quad Polarization None

Distribution disk files

SPW can read this data product without prior conversion.

Product Name File Name File Type Required Contents Details
SLC-Q l#p#polgasp.hdr Product-specific text format. No Metadata that applies to the data set as a whole. Also known as the master header file.

The first # symbol is the line number; the second is the pass number.

SLC-Q

l#p#hhpolgasp.hdr
l#p#hvpolgasp.hdr
l#p#vhpolgasp.hdr
l#p#vvpolgasp.hdr

Product-specific text format. Yes Metadata that applies to individual polarization rasters. Also known as the polarization header files.

The first # symbol is the line number; the second is the pass number.

The hh, hv, vh, and vv substrings indicates the <transmit, receive> scattering matrix component to which the raster corresponds.

SLC-Q

#p#hhpolgasp.img
l#p#hvpolgasp.img
l#p#vhpolgasp.img
l#p#vvpolgasp.img

Product-specific binary format. Yes Raster data Also known as image data files.

The first # symbol is the line number; the second is the pass number.

MLC-Q l#p#SIRC.hdr Product-specific text format. Yes Metadata The first # symbol is the line number; the second is the pass number.
MLC-Q l#p#SIRC.img For these data, the SIR-C MLC-Q format specification is used Yes Raster data The first # symbol is the line number; the second is the pass number.

To import the data, you have to select a single file that represents the data type to GDB. This file is called the "key file".

For SLC-Q, any one of the l#p#polgasp.hdr, l#p#hhpolgasp.hdr, l#p#hvpolgasp.hdr, l#p#vhpolgasp.hdr, and l#p#vvpolgasp.hdr files can be used as the key file.

For MLC-Q, l#p#SIRC.hdr is the key file.

Returned data

Data product Data returned Details
Single-look Complex Quad Polarization (SLC-Q) Eight rasters The rasters are spatially coincident and represent the real and imaginary components of each of four independent complex elements of the non-symmetric Sinclair scattering matrix (s4c).

The rasters conform to SAR slant-range geometry.

Multi-look Complex Quad Polarization (MLC-Q) Nine rasters The rasters are spatially coincident and represent the three real and three complex independent elements of the symmetric covariance matrix (C3r3c).

Each complex element is represented by two rasters: one for the real component and one for the imaginary component.

The rasters conform to SAR slant-range geometry.

Returned metadata

Returned metadata for the data set level is described in the following table.

Name Description Values
SensorModelName The model name of the sensor that acquired the data. CV580
SensorType The sensor type. SAR
ProductType The data product type. For SLC-Q, the value is SLC. For MLC-Q, the value is MLC.
MatrixType The type of the matrix whose elements correspond to rasters in the data set. For SLC-Q, the value is s4c. For MLC-Q, the value is C3r3c.
SAR_Calibration The SAR-related calibration that is applied to the image pixel values as it is read from the file. sigma0
MicrowaveBand The microwave frequency band in which the sensor operated during data acquisition. C
Polarizations The set of <transmit, receive> polarization pairs that is represented by the data set. For SLC-Q, the value is (HH, HV, VH, VV).

For MLC-Q, the value is (HH, HV, VV).

NumLooks The number of looks processed in range and azimuth. For SLC-Q, the value is 1.

For the MLC-Q product, the value is a number greater than 1.

Returned metadata for the channel level is described in the following table.

Name Description Values
MatrixElement The row and column position and number component (complex or real) of the matrix element to which the raster corresponds.

A real-valued matrix element has only a real component and is represented by one raster.

A complex-valued matrix element has both a real and an imaginary component, and is represented by two rasters.

Possible values for SLC-Q: real_1_1, imaginary_1_1, real_1_2, imaginary_1_2, real_2_1, imaginary_2_1, real_2_2, imaginary_2_2.

Possible values for MLC-Q: real_1_1, real_2_2, real_3_3, real_1_2, imaginary_1_2, real_1_3, imaginary_1_3, real_2_3, imaginary_2_3.

References

Wind, A.F. and K.P. Murnaghan, CV-580 PolGASP Format Definition, CCRS-TN-2002-025. Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, November 24, 2004.

SLC-Q data is available from the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing at: ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca

Samples of free MLC-Q data are available from Natural Resources Canada at: geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca

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