ASF corner reflectors (Franz Meyer)
Info URL: Contact details:
Dr. Franz J. Meyer
Earth & Planetary Remote Sensing
Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks
903 Koyukuk Dr., Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775
Email: fjmeyer@alaska.edu
URL: http://www.insar.alaska.edu
Description: The target group consists of 10 corner reflectors (four 2.5m and six 3m corner reflectors) located in Alaska. These targets are primarily used for ALOS. The alignment of the corner reflectors is changed frequently. For information concerning the alignment of the corner reflectors please contact the maintainer.

Point targets (10)

DJR-25 (Gerstle River) (Trihedral corner reflector (3 m) @ DJR-25 (Gerstle River))
Reference frame: ITRF 2000 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Note:
For information about current aligment please contact Franz Meyer (fjmeyer@alaska.edu).
Supplementary information:
Next planned modification: None
Bandwidth (start): None Hz
Bandwidth (stop): None Hz
Alignment: None
RCS values per frequency in dB:

DJR-26 (Panoramic) (Trihedral corner reflector (2.5 m) @ DJR-26 (Panoramic))
Reference frame: ITRF 2000 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Note:
For information about current aligment please contact Franz Meyer (fjmeyer@alaska.edu).
Supplementary information:
Next planned modification: None
Bandwidth (start): None Hz
Bandwidth (stop): None Hz
Alignment: None
RCS values per frequency in dB:

DJR-28 (Theuinger) (Trihedral corner reflector (2.5 m) @ DJR-28 (Theuinger))
Reference frame: ITRF 2000 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Note:
For information about current aligment please contact Franz Meyer (fjmeyer@alaska.edu).
Supplementary information:
Next planned modification: None
Bandwidth (start): None Hz
Bandwidth (stop): None Hz
Alignment: None
RCS values per frequency in dB:

DJR-29 (Shultz) (Trihedral corner reflector (3 m) @ DJR-29 (Shultz))

DJR-31 (Black) (Trihedral corner reflector (2.5 m) @ DJR-31 (Black))

DJR-32 (UAF Ag Farm) (Trihedral corner reflector (3 m) @ DJR-32 (UAF Ag Farm))

DJR-34 (Test Track) (Trihedral corner reflector (3 m) @ DJR-34 (Test Track))

DJR-4 (Donnely Dome) (Trihedral corner reflector (2.5 m) @ DJR-4 (Donnely Dome))

FBK-1 (T-Field) (Trihedral corner reflector (3 m) @ FBK-1 (T-Field))

FBK-3 (Quist) (Trihedral corner reflector (3 m) @ FBK-3 (Quist))

Distributed targets (0)

Amazon Rain Forest Sites (Marco Schwerdt)
Info URL: http://www.dlr.de/hr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2459/ Contact details:
Dr.-Ing. Marco Schwerdt
Head of the Calibration Group
German Aerospace Center
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Description: These Amazon rainforest sites were used for the antenna characterization of TerraSAR-X in 2007. Since then, they have been used for the long-term system monitoring of TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X.

Point targets (0)

Distributed targets (3)

Amazon Rainforest 1 (Amazon rainforest @ Amazon site 1)
Location: Amazon site 1
Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).

Amazon Rainforest 2 (Amazon rainforest @ Amazon site 2)
Location: Amazon site 2
Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).

Amazon Rainforest 3 (Amazon rainforest @ Amazon site 3)
Location: Amazon site 3 Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
This distributed target has been used continuously for calibration and monitoring of the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites.

BAE Corner (Peter Meadows)
Info URL: Contact details:
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories
West Hanningfield Road
Great Baddow,
Chelmsford,
Essex
CM2 8HN
UK
Description: One steerable 2.5 m trihedral corner reflector located at BAE Labs in Chelmsford, UK. This is primarily used for Sentinel-1.

Point targets (1)

BAE-1 (Trihedral corner reflector (2.5 m) @ BAE site 1)
Reference frame: WGS84 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
One steerable 2.5 m trihedral corner reflector located at BAE Labs in Chelmsford, UK. This is primarily used for Sentinel-1.
Target alignment: Manually steerable in azimuth and elevation (located ~100m from our office). Please contact the maintainer for this site to query the current corner alignment.

Bar-pattern target near Baotou, China (Chuanrong Li)
Info URL: Contact details:
Dr. Yongsheng Zhou
Department of Earth Observation Technology Application
Academy of Opto-Electronics
Chinese Academy of Sciences
No.9, Dengzhuang South Road
Haidian District
Beijing 100094
P. R. China
Email: zhouys@aoe.ac.cn
Description: A bar-pattern target extends the concept of an _optical_ bar pattern target to the microwave band. This _microwave_ bar pattern target was designed and permanently built at the National Calibration and Validation Site for High-Resolution Remote Sensors, near Baotou, China.

Distributed targets (1)

Bar-pattern target, Baotou, China (Bar-pattern target @ Baotou 1, China)
Location: Baotou 1, China Reference frame: WGS84 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
A bar-pattern target extends the concept of an optical bar pattern target to the microwave band. This microwave bar pattern target was designed and permanently built at the National Calibration and Validation Site for High-Resolution Remote Sensors, near Baotou, China.
Details can be found in the paper http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7784701/ or on this webpage at http://sarcv.ceos.org/documents/doc/228/.
The following is a verbatim copy of the abstract of the IEEE paper:
The characterization and understanding of microwave remote sensing image quality is essential to the monitoring performance of sensors and the proper usage of the acquired image. Point targets (e.g., passive corner reflectors and active transponders) have been widely used for microwave image resolution analysis. However, the analysis results based on point targets do not include the effects of speckle and thermal noise that are rare for point targets but common for distributed targets. Since distributed targets are common in remote sensing imaging scenes and their distinguishability is of interest in practice, the concept of an optical bar pattern target was extended to the microwave band, and a microwave bar pattern target was designed and permanently built at the National Calibration and Validation Site for High-Resolution Remote Sensors. In this letter, the main design idea is first introduced. Different backscatter coefficients of the bars were achieved for different surface roughness made by black rough gravel and a white smooth concrete plate, where the gravel size was designed per the Rayleigh roughness criterion. The experimental results using C-band airborne SAR and X-band KOMPSAT-5 SAR images are presented. A quantitative analysis shows that this target could roughly evaluate the image resolution of high-resolution microwave imaging sensor and would be a good complement to point targets.
The target is operational since Oct. 1, 2014.

Neustrelitz, Germany (Marco Schwerdt)
Info URL: http://www.dlr.de/hr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2459/ Contact details:
Dr.-Ing. Marco Schwerdt
Head of the Calibration Group
German Aerospace Center
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Description: There are four permanently installed 1.5 m trihedral corner reflectors at DLR's site at north Germany. These targets are primarily used for long-term system monitoring of "TerraSAR-X").

D33 (Trihedral corner reflector (1.5 m) @ D33)
Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Alignment: az: 258.6°, inc. angle: 29.8°

D34 (Trihedral corner reflector (1.5 m) @ D34)
Alignment: az: 100.1°, inc. angle: 39.0°

D35 (Trihedral corner reflector (1.5 m) @ D35)
Alignment: az: 260.3°, inc. angle: 41.5°

RADARSAT Program Distributed Targets (Stephane Cote)
Stephane Cote, Eng., M. Sc. A.
Data Quality Manager
Government of Canada
Canadian Space Agency
Satellite Operations and Ground Infrastructure
Longueuil
Description: The eight distributed targets sites in this target group have been used for the calibration of satellites in the RADARSAT program. Note: Some sites are labeled _experimental_, see the description of the respective target site.

CSA Amazon Rain Forest Sites – Amazon Prime area (Amazon rainforest @ Amazon Prime area)
Location: Amazon Prime area Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
Site: operational.
Satellites: RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2
This area was used by the CSA as a primary reference site for RADARSAT-1 from 1997 to 2008. Well-characterized and adopted as an international cal-val area in 2004 by the CEOS SAR WGCV, this site is also exploited for RADARSAT-2 SAR cal-val activities.

CSA Amazon Rain Forest Sites – Greater Amazon 1-East (Amazon rainforest @ Greater Amazon 1-East)
Location: Greater Amazon 1-East Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
Status: operational
Satellite: RADARSAT-2
Area validated by CSA with RADARSAT-1 in 2006 in support of the then upcoming RADARSAT-2 mission, to enlarge the valid Amazonian calibration sites in anticipation of the large number of RADARSAT-2 beams to be monitored.

CSA Amazon Rain Forest Sites – Greater Amazon 1-West (Amazon rainforest @ Greater Amazon 1-West)
Location: Greater Amazon 1-West Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
Status: operational
Satellite: RADARSAT-2
Area validated by CSA with RADARSAT-1 in 2006 in support of the then upcoming RADARSAT-2 mission, to enlarge the valid Amazonian calibration sites in anticipation of the large number of RADARSAT-2 beams to be monitored.

CSA Amazon Rain Forest Sites – Greater Amazon 2-East (Amazon rainforest @ Greater Amazon 2-East)
Location: Greater Amazon 2-East Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
Status: operational
Satellite: RADARSAT-2
Area validated by CSA with RADARSAT-1 in 2006 in support of the then upcoming RADARSAT-2 mission, to enlarge the valid Amazonian calibration sites in anticipation of the large number of RADARSAT-2 beams to be monitored.

CSA Amazon Rain Forest Sites – Greater Amazon 2-West (Amazon rainforest @ Greater Amazon 2-West)
Location: Greater Amazon 2-West Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:

CSA Antarctica Site – Dome C (Antarctica @ Dome C)
Location: Dome C Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
Status: experimental
The site coordinates provide a circle of 150 km radius around the French-Italian Concordia station. The area was investigated between 2009 and 2012. The site has demonstrated a strong gamma backscatter slope (with range) at low incidence, low cross-pol backscatter level (< -15 dB gamma, in C-band), and a relatively small area free of physical constraints (snow dunes, changes in surface texture) making it suitable for small footprint stripmap imaging modes. However, for such small footprint, high incidence (>35°), co-pol stripmap modes, the site provides very smooth, potentially highly repeatable backscatter measurements propitious to very accurate elevation beam pattern measurements.

CSA Boreal Forest Sites – Canadian Boreal Forest (Canadian boreal forest @ Canadian Boreal Forest)
Location: Canadian Boreal Forest Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
Status: experimental
The validation for this site started in 2003, which was then utilized as a RADARSAT-1 reference site until the end of the RADARSAT-1 mission in 2013. Subsequent to the loss of the RADARSAT-1 On-Board Recorder in 2009, the Amazon became out of reach of active certified receiving facilities and this Boreal Forest area near Hearst, Ontario, then became the de facto reference area for that mission, as it remained within receiving masks of both Prince Albert and Gatineau receiving facilities. The backscatter dependence with range, at this location, varies seasonally with time. To be usable, this site then requires, as a minimum, a monthly backscatter model of the area. The site is radiometrically more accurate (i.e. more temporally stable) during the May – September period.

CSA Cameroon Rain Forest Site (Amazon rainforest @ Cameroon)
Location: Cameroon Reference frame: [unknown] (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.). Next planned modification: None Note:
The area was first investigated by the CSA in 2008, and has been exploited since 2012 for radiometric assessments as an alternative area to the Amazon. From routine beam pattern shape measurements, the site appears to share many radiometric characteristics with the Amazon, including co-pol and cross-pol backscatter absolute levels, and the slight linearly decreasing gamma backscatter dependence with incidence angle (at C-band, 5.405 GHz).

Surat Basin, Queensland, Australia (Medhavy Thankappan)
There are two maintainers for this target group:
Medhavy Thankappan (Medhavy.Thankappan@ga.gov.au)
Matt Garthwaite (Matt.Garthwaite@ga.gov.au)
Description: This target group of 40 corner reflectors is a regional-scale geodetic network that has been installed by Geoscience Australia in the Surat Basin, Queensland, Australia. The permanent installation of corner reflectors was completed in November 2014. The network incorporates 65 survey marks and 40 radar corner reflectors to enable the combination of Global Navigation Satellite System measurements with remotely sensed surface deformation maps derived using the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technique. The combination of these geodetic techniques in this region will bring an enhanced understanding of how resource extraction affects the ground surface. Although their main purpose is for geodetic monitoring, by design the corner reflectors are also able to support ongoing radiometric calibration and geometric validation of X, C and L-band SAR imagery. Please check site [Surat Basin 26](http://sarcv.ceos.org/targets/target/48/) to see an **image of a typical 1.5 m triangular trihedral corner reflector**. Further details about the corner reflector array are given in the following papers: - M. C. Garthwaite , M. Hazelwood , S. Nancarrow , A. Hislop , J. H. Dawson: _A regional geodetic network to monitor ground surface response to resource extraction in the northern Surat Basin, Queensland_, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 62, Iss. 4, 2015. Freely available from: - M. C. Garthwaite, S. Nancarrow, A. Hislop, M. Thankappan, J. Dawson, S. Lawrie: _The design of radar corner reflectors for the Australian Geophysical Observing System_, Record 2015/03, Geoscience Australia, 2015. Freely available from:

Surat Basin 01 (Trihedral corner reflector (1.5 m) @ Surat Basin CR 1)
Reference frame: GDA94 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Permanently installed corner reflector with 360° azimuth and 0-40° elevation (w.r.t. horizontal) adjustability
Average foundation pillar depth: 1.31 m

Surat Basin 02 (Trihedral corner reflector (1.5 m) @ Surat Basin CR 2)
Reference frame: GDA94 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Permanently installed corner reflector with 360° azimuth and 0-40° elevation (w.r.t. horizontal) adjustability
Average foundation pillar depth: 1.14 m

Surat Basin 03 (Trihedral corner reflector (2.5 m) @ Surat Basin CR 3)
Reference frame: GDA94 (The numerical coordinate values in this KML file are with respect to this stated reference frame; in particular, they have not been converted to the default KML reference frame (WGS84) so that locations may be wrongly displayed in e.g. Google Earth.).
Permanently installed corner reflector with 360° azimuth and 0-40° elevation (w.r.t. horizontal) adjustability
Average foundation pillar depth: 2.85 m

Average foundation pillar depth: N/A m