Ocean surface currents (vector) Measurements Made by Earth Observation Satellites

CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS

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Ocean surface currents (vector)

Measurement Definition*: Water flow on ocean surface - Physical unit: [ cm/s ] - Accuracy unit: [ cm/s ] intended as vector error, i.e. the module of the vector difference between the observed vector and the true vector - Measuring Units cm/s, Uncertainty Units cm/s

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ECV Surface Currents

Instrument	Status/ Accuracy	Instrument Description	Measurement Technology	Timeline
C-Band SAR C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar	Operational	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.	n/a
SAR (RADARSAT-2) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band	Operational	All-weather images of ocean, ice and land surfaces. Used for monitoring of coastal zones, polar ice, sea ice, sea state, geological features, vegetation and land surface processes.	n/a
SAR (RCM) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band	Operational	All-weather, C-band data to support ecosystem monitoring, maritime surveillance and disaster management.	n/a
SAR-L L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar	Operational	Land, ocean, emergencies, soil moisture, interferometry, others.	n/a
X-Band SAR X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar	Operational	High resolution images for monitoring of land surface and coastal processes and for agricultural, geological and hydrological applications.	n/a
L-Band SAR L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar	Proposed	Global observation of dynamic processes in the bio-, cryo-, geo- and hydrosphere.	n/a

* Description adapted from WMO.