A Dual-Band Low-Power Transponder Prototype for SAR Satellite Calibration

The focus of this paper is the development and evaluation of a low-cost dual-band active transponder based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry with C-band and X-band satellites. Such technology is crucial for identifying deformations caused by environmental events such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The transponder is designed to offer an economical alternative to bulky passive reflectors. The proposed transponder is equipped with two sets of 8-element dual-band antennas arranged in concentric circular arrays, and two common-emitter (CE) multistage amplifiers for each frequency band. The entire design has low production costs and low power consumption as principal constraints.