Satellite and Airborne SAR Sensor Specifications

Robust Imaging from Space

Adjunct Reference Document #1

Satellite and Airborne SAR Sensor Specifications

The following tables provide detailed specifications of currently operational and proposed satellite and airborne SAR sensors, including those having reached end of life.

Table A - Operational satellite SAR sensors and specifications _________________________ 1

Table B - Future/proposed satellite SAR sensors and specifications. _____________________ 7

Table C - Operational airborne SAR sensors and specifications. _______________________ 13

Table D - Decommissioned SAR sensors. __________________________________________ 18

Robust Imaging from Space Satellite and Airborne SAR Sensor Specifications

Table A - Operational satellite SAR sensors and specifications

Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRC-SI) – June 2012 Page | 1


X-BAND

Nat

ion

Sensor, operating agency, launch, Design life (EOL), application area

Orbit & altitude (km) Inclination angle (°) Target revisit time

Swath width (km)

Imaging modes Spatial resolution (m)

Incidence angle (°)

GER

MA

NY

SAR-Lupe 1-5 DLR/Bundeswehr 5 satellite constellation for delivering high resolution

SAR images for military reconnaissance 1

st 2006, 2

nd 2007, 3

rd 2007, 4

th 2008, 5

th 2008

Est. Cost 250 mil EUR EOL: 10 yrs

Polar 500 km 98.2° Daily

8 5.5

X-band SAR Encrypted S-band for telemetry & command transmissions Stripmap mode Spotlight mode

<1

TSX-1 (TerraSAR-X) DLR, 2007-2013

Scientific & commercial use hydrology, geology, climatology, oceanography, environment & disaster monitoring, cartography

Sun-synch 514 km 97.44° 11 days

10 10 15-30 100

X- Multiple imaging modes High resolution Spotlight SP (HH or VV) or DP (HH/VV) Spotlight SP (HH or VV) or DP (HH/VV) Stripmap SP (HH or VV) or DP (HH/VV, HH/HV, VV/VH) ScanSAR SP

1.48-3.49 1.48-3.49 1.7-3.49 1.7-3.49

20-55 20-55 20-45 20-45 Left and right looking

TDX-1 (TanDEM-X) DLR, 2010-2014 Global DEM generation & earth observation, new

applications using along-track InSAR (e.g., measuring ocean currents), pol-InSAR, bistatic processing and formation flying

EOL: 5 yrs Co-fly in close formation with TSX-1, near identical capability


30 10 100

Interferometric imaging: Bistatic mode Monostatic mode Along-track interferometry (ATI) Polarimetric interferometry SAR imaging (same as TerraSAR-X): Stripmap DP Spotlight DP ScanSAR DP

12 (DEM) (abs v.acc 10 m, rel acc. <2 m) 3 1 16

25-55




X-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



ITA

LY

Cosmo-SkyMed 1-4 (Constellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) ITA, -1 2007, -2 2007, -3 2008, -4 2009 EOL: 5 years 4 X-band EOS satellite constellation Dual use: Civilian: disaster/risk management, ice monitoring,

agriculture, urban Defence: intelligence gathering, ship detection,

maritime surveillance, security

Sun-synch 620 km 97.86° Daily-16 days

10 30-40 100-200 30

Selectable single pol (HH,VV,HV,VH) Spotlight Stripmap ScanSAR Ping pong or Stripmap – 2x selectable pol (HH, VV, HV, VH)

1 3-15 30-100 15

25-50 Left and right looking

RU

SSIA

Meteor-M N1 (Meteorological Satellite) ROSHYDROMET, ROSKOSMOS. 2009-2014 EOL: 5 yrs

Operational meteorological services, regional & global weather analysis & prediction, ocean surface water states, space weather analysis


450-600 Onboard Radar Complex (OBRC) – Severjanin, Vertical pol Low resolution MSS (MSU-MR) IR Fourier Spectrometer (IRFS-2) MS imaging system (KMSS) Microwave imaging/sounding radiometer (MTVZA) Spectrometer for Geoactive Measurements (MSGI) Data Collection System (DCS)

400-1000 25-48

JAP

AN

IGS-7A (Information Gathering Satellite) 2011- Dual use Military: surveillance, early warning of hostile

launches Civilian: disaster monitoring

Polar 500 km

1




X-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



IND

IA

RISAT-2 (Radar Imaging Satellite 2) ISRO, 2009-2013 Dual use Civil: agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, geology,

sea ice, coastal processes, object detection, flood mapping

Military: reconnaissance, border surveillance, ship detection

Sun-synch 550 km

10-50 Spotlight Stripmap Mosaic mode

3-8

ISR

AEL

TecSAR (Technological SAR) IAI, 2008- EOL: 4 yrs

Low-earth orbit reconnaissance

450-580 km 41°

Selectable pol (HH,HV,VH,VV) Stripmap Spotlight ScanSAR Mosaic mode

1




C-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



IND

IA

RISAT-1 (Radar Imaging Satellite) ISRO, 2012-2017 EOL: 5 yrs Dual use Civil: agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, geology,



Sun-synch circ 609 km 97.84° 12 days

10 30 30 120 240

Spotlight SP/DP Stripmap mode-1 (FRS-1) SP/DP Stripmap mode-2 (FRS-2) QP Med res ScanSAR (MRS) SP/DP Coarse res ScanSAR (CRS) SP/DP

<2 3 12 25 50

±34 Left or right looking

CA

NA

DA

RADARSAT-1 CSA, 1995-

Earth observation: disaster management, interferometry, agriculture, cartography, hydrology, forestry, oceanography, ice studies, coastal monitoring


45 100 150 300 500 75 170

C- Multiple imaging modes Fine HH Standard HH Wide HH ScanSAR narrow ScanSAR wide Extended high Extended low

8 30 30 50 100 18-28 30

37-47 20-49 20-45 20-49 29-49 52-58 10-22 Right looking

RADARSAT-2 CSA, 2007-

Earth observation: maritime surveillance, disaster management, ecosystem monitoring


20 50 50 100 150 300 500 75 25 25

Multiple imaging modes Ultra-Fine SP Multi-look Fine SP Fine SP/DP Standard SP/DP Wide SP/DP ScanSAR Narrow SP/DP ScanSAR Wide SP/DP Extended High SP Fine QP Standard QP

3 8 8 25 30 50 100 18 12 25

30-49 30-50 30-50 20-49 20-45 20-46 20-49 49-60 20-41 20-41




S-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



RU

SSIA

Kondor-E NPO, 2012-2022 EOL: 3-10 yrs Dual use Military: navigation and reconnaissance Earth observation: agriculture, forestry, land use

management, geology and mineral exploration, environmental protection

Polar 800 km

20-150 10-20

Spotlight HH, VV Stripmap ScanSAR

1-2 1-3 5-30

20-55 Left and Right looking

CH

INA

HJ-1C (Huan Jing-1) CRESDA, 2011-2014 Environmental monitoring & prediction, solid waste

monitoring, disaster monitoring & prediction (flood, drought, typhoon, wind damage, sand storm, earthquake, land creep, frost, grassland fires, crop pests, ocean disaster monitoring)

Sun-synch circ 500 km 97.3° 31 days

40 100

1 radar + 2 optical constellation (HJ-1A: CCD+IR camera, HJ-1B: CCD+HSI camera) StripMap SP (HH or VV) ScanSAR

5 20

31-44.5




L-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



CH

INA

JianBing-5 (JB-5) JB 5-2/Yaogan3, JB 9-1/Yaogan6, JB 9-2/Yaogan8, Yaogan9A/9B/9C, JB 9-3/Yaogan10, Yaogan13 Y3 2007-, Y6 2009-, Y8 2009-, Y9 2010-, Y10 2010-, Y13 2011 Dual use Military: intelligence gathering, surveillance and

reconnaissance Earth observation: land survey, disaster forecasting,

crop yield evaluation, urban planning

635 km (Y3) 518 km (Y6) 1200 km (Y8) 1089 km (Y9) 629 km (Y10) 97.8 °

20 100

Spotlight ScanSAR

5 40 1.5 (Y6)

63.4 (Y9)

MULTI-FREQUENCY

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



RU

SSIA

Smotr Gascom, 2009 EOL: 7-10 yrs 4 low-orbit satellites for monitoring oil/gas pipeline

and earth observation (2 radar, 2 optical)

Sun-synch 670 km 98°

10-15 30-100

X- or C-band High resolution mode Low resolution mode

1-3 5-15

Priroda RKA, 1996- Launched & installed on MIR space station Geoecology, land surface & ocean exploration

400 km 52° 6 days

50 Radiometer, SAR and optical imaging L-HH and S-VV

50 35


Table B - Future/proposed satellite SAR sensors and specifications



X-BAND

Nat

ion

Sensor, operating agency, launch, design life (EOL), application area


Swath width (km)



SPA

IN

SEOSAR/PAZ (SAR Observation Spanish Satellite) 2012-2016 Dual use Defence: land/water surveillance, border control,

tactical support Civil: natural disaster monitoring, risk & crisis

management


5-10 15-30 100

Based on TerraSAR-X Spotlight SP/DP Stripmap SP/DP ScanSAR (HH, VV)

1-2 3-6 15

15-60 Left and right looking

ITA

LY

Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG-1, CSG-2) ASI, MiD CSG-1 2015-2023, CSG-2 2016-2023 Environmental monitoring, surveillance and risk

management, maritime, topographic mapping, law enforcement


10 40 100, 200 30

Spotlight DP Stripmap DP ScanSAR DP Ping-pong QP

1 3 20, 40 15

GER

MA

NY

TerraSAR-X2 DLR, 2015-2018 Commercial follow-on mission to TSX-1:

cartography, land surface, civil planning, DTMs, environmental monitoring

Sun-synch

10-40 50-500

Spotlight Stripmap ScanSAR

0.5 1-4 5-50

UK

AstroSAR Astrium EOL: 5 yrs Mini-satellite proposed to UK Ministry of Defence Cost: <$100 mil. Dual use: civil/military Maritime, environment, security &

disaster monitoring

Sun-synch 500 km Hourly-daily

10 20 100 900

Spotlight SP (HH or VV) or DP (HV) Stripmap SP/DP ScanSAR SP/DP Maritime

1 3 30 20

±45 Left and right looking




X-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



RU

SSIA

Meteor-M N2, N3 (Meteorological Satellite) ROSHYDROMET, ROSKOSMOS, N2 2012, N3 2015 EOL: 5 yrs Operational meteorological services, regional &

global weather analysis & prediction, ocean surface water states, space weather analysis


450-600 Onboard Radar Complex (OBRC) – Severjanin, Vertical pol Module for Geophysical Measurements (GGAK-M) Fourier spectrometer (IKFS-2) MS imager (KMSS) MS scanning imager/radiometer (MSU-MR) Scanning microwave imager-sounder (MTVZA) Data Collection System (DCS)

400-1000 25-48

KO

REA

KOMPSAT-5 (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-5) KARI, 2012-2017 EOL; 5 yrs Civil/scientific use; GIS, ocean & land management,

environment and disaster monitoring


5 30 100

Selectable pol (HH,HV,VH,VV) High resolution mode Standard mode Wide swath mode

1 3 20

20-55

IND

IA RISAT-2F (Radar Imaging Satellite)

ISRO, 2013-? Research and disaster management applications

Sun-synch 550 km




C-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



ITA

LY

Sentinel-1 A,B,C ESA A 2012-2020, B 2014-2022, C 2019-2026 Sea ice monitoring, marine surveillance, land surface

motion, disaster management

693 km 98.18° 12 days

80 250 400

VV+VH, HH+HV StripMap Interferometric Wide swath Extra wide swath Wave mode

5 5x20 20x40 5x5

20-45

CA

NA

DA

RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) C-1, C-2, C-3 CSA, C1,C2 2014-2021, C3 2015-2022 3 EOS satellites for near real-time maritime

surveillance (ship detection, oil spill monitoring & sea ice mapping), disaster management, InSAR for geohazards, climate change & environment monitoring

592.7 km 97.74° 12 days

500 350 30 125 30 20 350 350

HH,VV,HV,VH, compact pol Low resolution Med resolution (maritime) Med resolution (land) Med resolution (land) High resolution Very high resolution Ice/oil low noise 25 m ship mode

100 50 16 30 5 3 100 variable

19-54 19-58 20-47 21-47 19-54 18-54 19-58 19-58 Right looking

S-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



UK

NovaSAR-S SSTL, 2013-2020 Scientific/EO: flood and disaster monitoring,

forestry, maritime surveillance, agriculture, land cover/use

Sun-synch or LI equatorial 580 km Daily-4 days

15-20 100 150 750

SP/DP/TP: (HH, HV, VH, VV) Stripmap ScanSAR ScanSAR wide Maritime surveillance

6 20 30 30

16-34 16-30 15-31 48-73




L-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



GER

MA

NY

TanDEM-L DLR, 2017-2022

760 km 8 days

350 L-band SAR Single-pass InSAR Polarimetry - quad Wide swath mode

20-100 26.3-46.6

JAP

AN

ALOS PALSAR-2 (Phase Array L-band SAR) JAXA, 2013-2017

Earth observation, interferometry

628 km 97.9° 14 days 66 days 42 days 14 days

25 50 50 70 350 490

Spotlight SP Ultra Fine SP/DP High sensitive SP/DP/FP/CP Fine SP/DP/FP/CP ScanSAR nominal SP/DP ScanSAR wide SP/DP (*SP: HH or VV or HV; DP: HH+HV or VV+VH; FP: HH+HV+VH+VV; CP: compact pol)

3x1 3 6 10 100 60

30-44 Left or right looking

IND

IA

RISAT-1F and -3L (Radar Imaging Satellite) ISRO, 1F 2012-2018, 3L 2014-2020 Dual use Civil: agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, geology,



Sun-synch 97.84° 12 days

SAR L-radiometer

USA

DESDNyl NASA JPL, 2017-2022

Earth observation: land surface change & hazards, terrestrial & climate variables

Sun-synch 600-800 km 97° 12-16 days

180-240 Multiple polarisations Single/dual-pol repeat pass InSAR Expt. quad-pol repeat pass InSAR

10-100




L-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) NASA JPL, 2014-2017 Global measurements of soil moisture and

freeze/thaw state for improved understanding of water, energy & carbon cycles, climate modelling, flood prediction, drought monitoring

Sun-synch 680 km 2-3 days

1000 L-band SAR VV,HH,HV L-band Radiometer

1-3 km 40 km

40

AR

GEN

TIN

A &

ITA

LY

SAOCOM (SAR Observation and Communications Satellite) CONAE, Argentina and ASI, Italy Satellite EOS constellation 1A 2014-2019, 1B 2015-2020, 2A 2015-2020, 2B 2016-2021 EOL: 5 yrs

Soil moisture mapping to support agricultural, hydrological & health applications, General NRM & disaster management

Sun-synch 620 km 97.89° 16 days (1 sat) 8 days (const)

20-40 100-150 220-350

Stripmap SP/DP TopSAR narrow SP/DP/QP TopSAR wide SP/DP/QP/CL (*SP: HH or HV or VH or VV; DP: HH+HV or VV+VH; QP: HH+HV+VH+VV; CL: RH+RV or LH+LV)

10 30-50 50-100

17-50.4 17.6-47.3 17.6-48.9 Right looking




P-BAND

Nat

ion



Swath width (km)



ITA

LY BIOMASS

ESA, Italy, 2016-2021 642 km 25-45 days

60 105

P-band InSAR full pol StripMap ScanSAR

50x65 23-32 Left or right looking

MULTI-FREQUENCY

RU

SSIA

Arkon-2M Roskosmos, 2013-2018 Military surveillance, earth observation and weather

information

Sun-synch 550-600 km

2-10 20-100 100-450

X- L- R- (69 cm)

1-1.5 3-5 30

CH

INA

HY-3A, HY-3B, HY-3C CRESDA 3A 2015-2020, 3B 2017-2022, 3C 2022-2027 EOL: >3 yrs

Ocean monitoring, environmental protection, coastal zone survey


20-40 60-80 120-150 5 150 650 650

X- SAR Precise mode HH,VV X- Stripmap HH,VV X- ScanSAR HH,VV C- SAR Wave mode HH+VV or HH+HV or VV+VH C- Image mode HH+VV or HH+HV or VV+VH C- Wide swath mode HH+VV or HH+HV or VV+VH C- Global monitoring mode HH+VV or HH+HV or VV+VH

1 5 10 10 25 100 1000

15-60

USA

SCLP (Snow and Cold Land Processes) NASA JPL, 2030-2033

Snow accumulation for freshwater availability

Sun-synch 15 days

K-band radiometer Ku and X-band radars

50-100


Table C - Operational airborne SAR sensors and specifications



Nat

ion

Sensor, operating agency and date, application area Flying height (km) Swath width (km)

Frequency Imaging modes

Spatial resolution (m)


EUROPE

FRA

NC

E

Sethi ONERA, 2007- Earth observation, interferometry, security and

scientific applications (e.g., Tropisar campaign – preparation for BIOMASS satellite mission)

Multispectral & SAR system X- L-, P-

0-90 5-165

RAMSES ONERA

Scientific: topography, subsidence, vegetation, geology, soil moisture

P-, L-, S-, C-, X- full pol Ku, Ka full pol W

40-80

GER

MA

NY

DO-SAR Dornier

S-VV, VH, HH, HV C-VV, VH, HH, HV X-VV, VH, HH, HV Ka-VV

E-SAR DLR, 1989/94-

3.9 L- full pol X-VV or HH X-VV or HH P- full pol

2x0.085 20-60

UK

DRA-SAR (Defence Research Agency SAR) DRA

C- full pol X-HH

DEN

MA

RK

EMISAR EMI/TUD, 1993/94-

C- full pol L- full pol

2




Nat

ion





SWED

EN CARABAS (Coherent All Radio Band Sensing)

FOA

Wide-area surveillance, target detection, vegetation and biomass, disaster monitoring

1-5 1-5 VHF 20-90 MHz HH

3 40-70

NET

HER

LAN

DS PHARUS (Phased Array Universal SAR)

FEL-TNO, Delft, 1995-

Military (target detection, cartography) and civil use (forestry, agriculture, oceans)

6-20 C- full pol 3 10-75

RUSSIA

SAR TRAVERS Vega, Moscow

S- VV or HH

IMARC Vega, Moscow Soil & terrain mapping, hydrology studies, DEM

generation

24 X-, L-, P- full polarimetric VHF (118 MHz)

4-15

ASIA

JAP

AN

Pi-SAR-L (Polarimetric and Interferometric SAR) JAXA, 1996- Disaster monitoring & earth observation

6-12 15 X- InSAR Mode 1 HH or VV X- and L- full pol Mode 2 HH, HV, VH, HH

3x3.2 10-60

NASAR-1 NASDA/EORC, 1996-

20 L- full pol 3

NECSAR NASDA/EORC, 1992-

Interferometry & topographic mapping

X-HH




Nat

ion





CH

INA

CASSAR CAS/ISRA Agriculture, soil moisture, vegetation parameters,

biomass, surface roughness

7.2 X-HH, VV

10 73-83

AUSTRALIA

INGARA DSTO Scientific: coherent change detection studies &

feature extraction

12-48

X- full pol Stripmap Spotlight Interferometric

2-8 0.3

45-89

PLIS (Polarimetric L-band Imaging SAR) Flinders University, Adelaide Test bed for SMAP with applications in soil moisture

estimation

0.3-3 0.1-2.2 L-band scatterometer Full pol Single pass InSAR

11-29 15-45 Left and right looking

SOUTH AFRICA SASAR-1 (South African SAR)

University of Cape Town, 1999- Terrain mapping, vegetation studies

4 VHF (0.141 GHz) full pol

CANADA STAR-1,2 (Sea ice and Terrain Assessment Radar)

Intermap, 1990- Sea ice monitoring, terrain analysis

19-50 X-HH 5-18

NORTH AMERICA GeoSAR

Interferometer and LiDAR profiler Fugro EarthData, 2000-

Commercial/scientific: thematic & topographic mapping, hydrology, oil and gas exploration,

10-12

10-12 X- and P- HH+HV or VV+VH

1.25-3 (X-) 1.25-5 (P-) 5 (DEM)

25-60




Nat

ion





infrastructure planning, crop monitoring, forestry, fuel mapping

UAVSAR NASA JPL

Differential interferometry for investigating dynamic phenomena (earthquakes, volcanoes, deformation, vegetation, soil moisture, ice/glaciers, oceanography)

13.8 16 L- full pol 2 rng

STAR3i/IFSARE (Interferometric SAR – Elevation) ERIM, USA, 1992- Military and civil use: interferometric mapping, DEM

generation

12.2 10 X-HH 3 2.5-10 DEM (abs V.Acc 3)

45

SOUTH AMERICA

AR

GEN

TIN

A SARAT

CONAE, Argentina

Test bed for SAOCOM satellite and integration with multi-frequency SAR data for extracting physical information

9 L-band polarimetry HH,HV,VH,VV

3x0.4 23-69

BR

AZI

L

Orbisar-RFP (Radar for Foliage Penetration) OrbiSat, Brazil Cartographic products, including DTMs, ortho-

images, contour maps, topographic maps for applications in mining, gas and oil, defence, environment, energy

X- and P-band InSAR

US MILITARY

DCS (Data Collection System) ERIM, US Air Force -Single-pass interferometry

6.1 X- full pol Ku-VV

1.2 45




Nat

ion





ASARS-2A (Advanced SAR System) Onboard U2 aircraft US Air Force Military reconnaissance & surveillance, target

detection, damage assessment, disaster survey

Payloads: electro-optical, IR and SAR imagers, film camera, signals intelligence equipment

P-3/SAR ERIM, Navy

UWB (0.35 GHz) VV, VH, HH, HV L-VV, VH, HH, HV C-VV, VH, HH, HV X-VV, VH, HH, HV

SAR onboard RC-7 ARL aircraft US Military

Military intelligence gathering

Payloads: communications, signals and imagery intelligence

1.8

Phased-array radar onboard E-8C JSTARS aircraft US Air Force

Ground surveillance & moving target detection

Multi-mode SAR system Wide Area Surveillance (WAS) Moving Target Indicator (MTI)

Antenna tilted to either side 120° FOV

SAR onboard MQ-1 Predator UAV US Air Force, 1995- Military surveillance and reconnaissance,

intelligence gathering, weapons delivery

7.62 0.3-1

SAR onboard RQ-4A Global Hawk UAV US Air Force

Military intelligence, moving target detection, damage assessment

19.8 10 37

UAV equipped with electro-optical, IR and SAR imagers SAR MTI system, X-band Spotlight mode Stripmap mode Wide-area mode

0.3-1.8 6


Table D - Decommissioned SAR sensors



AIRBORNE

Nat

ion

Sensor, operating agency and date, application area Flying height (km)

Swath width (km)




USA

AIRSAR (Airborne SAR) and TOPSAR (Topographic SAR) NASA JPL, USA 1993-2000

8 10-15 4.6 TOPSAR

C-, L- and P- Polarimetric Cross-track Interferometric (XTI) Along-track Interferometric (ATI)

10 0-70

SATELLITE

Nat

ion

Sensor, operating agency, launch, application area Orbit & altitude (km) Inclination angle (°) Target revisit time

Swath width (km)




X-BAND

JAP

AN

IGS-1B, IGS-4B (Information Gathering Satellites) 1B 2003-2007, 4B 2007-2010

Military surveillance

486-491 km 97.3°

1-3

C-BAND

ITA

LY ERS-1 (Earth Resources Satellite)

ESA, 1991-2000

Earth observation, meteorology, topographic mapping

Sun-synch polar 100 C-VV 30x26.3 23




Nat

ion


Swath width (km)




ERS-2 ESA, 1995-2011 -Earth observation

800 km 98.5° 35 days

100 5

SAR image mode C-VV SAR wave mode Wind scatterometer mode

26 20-26 Right looking

ENVISAT ASAR (Advanced SAR) ESA, 2002-2012

Earth observation: land, sea, ice, ocean monitoring & surveillance

800 km 98.5° 35 days

100 100 400 400 5

Image mode (HH or VV) Alternating pol (VV+HH or VV+VH or HH+HV) Wide swath mode (HH or VV) Global monitoring mode (HH or VV) Wave mode (HH or VV)

30 30 150 1000 30

15-45 Right looking

S-BAND

RU

SSIA

Almaz-1 1991-1992 Oceanography, geology, cartography & geophysics,

climate change, forestry, Agriculture, ecology

270 km 72.7°

40

HH 10-15 25-60 Left and right looking

USA

Lacrosse 1-5/Onyx NRO, 1988-2011 Military reconnaissance

666 km 57-68°

5 satellite program 1

L-BAND

JAP

AN

JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite) JAXA, 1992-1998

Tropical & boreal forest mapping

570 km 98.5° 44 days

75 L-HH 18 32-38




Nat

ion


Swath width (km)




ALOS PALSAR (Phase Array L-band SAR) JAXA, 2006-2011

Earth observation

691 km 98.16° 46 days

70 70 30 350

L- Multiple modes Fine Beam Single HH Fine Beam Dual HH+HV Quad pol HH+HV+VH+VV Wide Beam HH

10 20 30 100

34.3-41.5 34.3-41.5 21.5 18-43 Right looking

CH

INA

JianBing-5 (JB 5-1/Yaogan 1) 2006-2010 Dual use Military: intelligence gathering, surveillance and

reconnaissance Earth observation: land survey, disaster forecasting,

crop yield evaluation, urban planning

628 km 97.8 °

40 100

Spotlight ScanSAR

5 20

MULTI-FREQUENCY

USA

SIR-C/X-SAR (Shuttle Imaging Radar) NASA JPL, 1994 Experimental program for multi-freq/pol/ang SAR

for extracting physical information

215 57° 2x11 day missions

15-90 15-40

C- and L- full pol (HH,HV,VH,VV) X-VV

10-200 49 Multi-ang pointing capability

USA

& G

ERM

AN

Y SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission)

NASA JPL, USA and DLR, Germany Feb 2000

Near-global DEM generation

233 km 57° 11 day mission

225

SIR-C HH+VV X-SAR HH+VV

30-90 (abs v.acc 16 m)

17-65

Documents

Satellite and Airborne SAR Sensor Specifications