Measurements and Applications
All-weather images of ocean, land and ice for monitoring of land surface processes, sea and polar ice, sea state, and geological and hydrological applications. Has 2 stripmap modes (Image and Wave (for ocean wave spectra)) and 3 ScanSAR modes.
Full Name
Advanced Synthetic-Aperture Radar
Status
No longer operational
Instrument Agencies
Maturity
Instrument Type
Imaging microwave radars 
Geometry
Instrument Technology
Imaging radar (SAR)
Sampling
Imaging
Data Access
Constrained Access
Data Format
Resolution
Image, wave and alternating polarisation modes: approx 30 x 30 m, Wide swath mode: 150 x 150 m, Global monitoring mode: 950 m x 950 m
[Best Resolution: 30m]
Swath
Image and alternating polarisation modes: up to 100 km, Wave mode: 5 km, Wide swath and global monitoring modes: 400 km or more
[Max Swath: 493 km]
Accuracy
Radiometric resolution in range: 1.5 - 3.5 dB, Radiometric accuracy: 0.65 dB
Waveband
Microwave: C-band, with choice of 5 polarisation modes (VV, HH, VV/HH, HV/HH, or VH/VV)
| MW (~0.1 cm - ~100 cm) |
| C-Band (8 - 4 GHz) |
Compiled from the 2026 Extended Parameters Survey, agency-nominated technical contacts and published user guides; not yet collected through the annual CEOS MIM survey.
Centre Frequency
5.331 GHz
Polarisation Channels
HH · HV · VV · VH
Polarisation Modes
single · dual
Look Direction
Right (nominal Right)
Antenna
Active Phased Array Antenna (APAA). Planar antenna consisting of 320 Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules organized into 20 panels — 10 × 1.3 m
Polarisation Notes
VV, HH, VV/HH, HV/HH, or VH/VV. Also supported the alternating polarisation mode - which capable of acquiring pairs of polarisations.
Source
2026 Extended Parameters Survey (ESA, 2026-09-01)
Compiled from the 2026 Extended Parameters Survey, agency-nominated technical contacts and published user guides; not yet collected through the annual CEOS MIM survey.
| Mode | Resolution az × rg (m) | Swath (km) | Incidence (°) | Polarisation | NESZ (dB) | Bandwidth (MHz) |
|---|
| Image mode - IS1 IM-IS1 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 109 | 14.1–22.3 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Image mode - IS2 IM-IS2 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 107.7 | 18.4–26.3 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Image mode - IS3 IM-IS3 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 84.3 | 25.6–31.3 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Image mode - IS4 IM-IS4 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 90.6 | 30.6–36.2 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Image mode - IS5 IM-IS5 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 66 | 35.5–39.4 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Image mode - IS6 IM-IS6 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 72.7 | 38.8–42.8 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Image mode - IS7 IM-IS7 SLC and IMP products | 30 × 30 | 58 | 42.2–45.3 | HH, VV | -26 | 16 |
| Wide Swath Mode WS Medium resolution | 150 × 150 | 405 | 17–43 | HH, VV | -30 | 16 |
| Wave Mode WM Imagette | 30 × 30 | 5 | 17–43 | HH, VV | -25 | 16 |
| Alternating Polarisation Mode AP SLC and Precision images | 30 × 30 | 105 | 14.3–45.3 | HH+VV; HH+HV; VV+VH | -20.4 | 16 |
| Global Monitoring Mode GM Mode Amplitude only | 1000 × 1000 | 400 | 16–43.1 | HH,VV | -20 | 0.9 |