SOFA - SHARAD Open Focusing Attempt

SOFA - SHARAD Open Focusing Attempt

What is SOFA?

SOFA means SHARAD Open Focusing Attempt. SOFA is an experimental open-source focuser for SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) radargrams written in python v3. This code has been developed and refined since 2016 during my spare time (sitting on the...guess where!). As I tried to publish on scientific journals some results, with no luck (read the short sad story below), as a (poor) believer in open and fair science I decided to publish here the code and some results. Maybe they could be useful for somebody in the scientific community!
NOTE: This project has not been developed during my work at the University of Trento, nor it has been supported by the University of Trento in any way.

UPDATE Feb. 2019: finally a paper has been accepted, you can find it here.
UPDATE Nov. 2019: the base code of SOFA has been added to the processing suite SOPA, which also includes simple reading and simulation of all the publicly available formats of raw/processed SHARAD data products.


The focusing algorithm is inspired by the one developed and described by the U.S. SHARAD Science Team on the PDS Geosciences Node website (link). SOFA algorithm extends those concepts by allowing the focusing of the radargram using a squint angle different from zero (i.e., squinted focusing), by using proper phase shifting.

Using this focuser it is possible to obtain new SHARAD products with possible better characteristics than those usually published on the PDS. As an example, it is possible to enhance subsurface targets and estimate their physical slope by properly combining the results of multiple short-aperture squinted radargrams (see the Radargram enhancement and target physical slope estimation page or the paper mentioned above).

By now, SOFA can focus only night time radargrams as no correction of ionosphere effects has been implemented yet.

Language: python v3.x

License:

Resources

Where you can get SOFA
How to use SOFA
Description of some useful information extracted
properly combining SOFA outputs

Short sad story

...prepare your kleenexes!

  • end of 2016: Adamo starts to write a focuser for SHARAD in his spare time;
  • beginning of 2017: Adamo gets interesting results by combining squinted radargrams;
  • April, 2017: Adamo submits his work for revision to a journal; rejection and suggestion to reduce the paper;
  • June, 2017: Adamo submits a reduced version to a letter journal; rejection and suggestion to extend the paper with more results/examples;
  • January, 2018: Adamo submits an extended version; rejection because results/examples are not sufficiently detailed, and suggestion to focus and develop a single example;
  • July, 2018: Adamo realizes that the scientific community cannot wait more and decides to publish here his work (i.e., Adamo realizes that he has no more time to continue trying to submit probably bad papers).

In the meantime, Adamo gets married (ok, this is not sad at all!!! :) ).

UPDATE Feb. 2019
August, 2018: Adamo changes his mind again and submits another paper to another journal and the paper is accepted and published!