| Instrument | Agency | Missions | Status | Type | Measurements &
applications | Technical characteristics |
C-Band SAR
C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar | ESA (COM) | Current: Sentinel-1 C, Sentinel-1 D
Future: -
Complete: Sentinel-1 A, Sentinel-1 B | Operational | Imaging microwave radars | Marine core services, land monitoring and emergency services. Monitoring sea ice zones and arctic environment. Surveillance of marine environment, monitoring land surface motion risks, mapping of land surfaces (forest, water and soil, agriculture), mapping in support of humanitarian aid in crisis situations. |
| Waveband: | C-band: 5.405 GHz; HH, VV, HH+HV, VV+VH; Incidence angle: 20-45
MW, C-Band |
| Spatial resolution: | Strip mode: 9 m, Interferometric wide swath mode: 20 m, extra-wide swath mode: 50 m, wave mode: 50 m
Best resolution: 9 m |
| Swath width: | Strip mode: 80 km; Interferometric wide swath mode: 250 km, extra-wide swath mode: 400 km, Wave mode: sampled images of 20 x 20 km at 100 km intervals |
| Accuracy: | NESZ: -22 dB; PTAR: -25 dB; DTAR: -22 dB; Radiometric accuracy 1 dB (3 sigma); Radiometric stability: 0.5 dB (3 sigma) |
| Data Access: | Open Access |
| Data Format: | |
|
L-band SAR (NISAR)
L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) (NISAR) | NASA (ISRO) | Current: NISAR
Future: -
Complete: - | Operational | Imaging microwave radars | 3-year mission to study solid earth deformation (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides), changes in ice (glaciers, sea ice) and changes in vegetation biomass |
| Waveband: | Microwave: 1.25 GHz
MW, L-Band |
| Spatial resolution: | 10m resolution
Best resolution: 10 m |
| Swath width: | 240 km (12-day repeat and global coverage) |
| Accuracy: | TBD |
| Data Access: | Open Access |
| Data Format: | HDF-5, GeoTIFF |
|
PALSAR-2
Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 | JAXA | Current: ALOS-2
Future: -
Complete: - | Operational | Imaging microwave radars | Disaster monitoring, land monitoring, agricultural monitoring, natural resource exploration, global forest monitoring, potential use and interferometry. |
| Waveband: | Microwave: L-Band 1270 MHz
L-Band |
| Spatial resolution: | Spotlight mode (1 to 3 m), stripmap mode (3 to 10 m).
Best resolution: 1 m |
| Swath width: | Spotlight mode: 25km, Stripmap mode: 50-70 km, Scan SAR mode: 350 - 490 km, Polarimetry: 30-50 km |
| Accuracy: | Surface Resolution: 1 to 3 m (Spotlight Mode), 3m (Ultra-Fine Mode), 6m (High sensitive Mode), 10m (Fine Mode),100 m (Scan Mode); Radiometric: ±1 dB |
| Data Access: | Open Access |
| Data Format: | CEOS SAR and GeoTiFF |
|
S-band SAR (NISAR)
S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) (NISAR) | ISRO | Current: NISAR
Future: -
Complete: - | Operational | Imaging microwave radars | 3-year mission to study solid earth deformation (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides), changes in ice (glaciers, sea ice) and changes in vegetation biomass |
| Waveband: | Microwave: 3.2 GHz
MW, S-Band |
| Spatial resolution: | 6m (Azimuth), 2-25 m (Slant Range)
Best resolution: 6 m |
| Swath width: | 230 km min |
| Accuracy: | TBD |
| Data Access: | Open Access |
| Data Format: | |
|
X-Band SAR
X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar | DLR | Current: TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X
Future: -
Complete: - | Operational | Imaging microwave radars | High resolution images for monitoring of land surface and coastal processes and for agricultural, geological and hydrological applications. |
| Waveband: | 9.65 GHz, 300 MHz bandwidth, all 4 polarisation modes
MW, X-Band |
| Spatial resolution: | Spotlight: 1.2 x 1 - 4 m Stripmap: 3 x 3 - 6 m ScanSAR: 16 x 16 m
Best resolution: 1 m |
| Swath width: | Spotlight: 5-10km x 10 km, Stripmap: 30 km, ScanSAR: 100 km |
| Accuracy: | |
| Data Access: | Open Access |
| Data Format: | |
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