Gap analyses by variable or by type of mission or by WIGOS subcomponent

Please select either a variable or a type of mission to display a time chart of satellite instruments having the potential to provide the corresponding measurements. The selection is based on design characteristics (Expert analysis) or declared mission objectives (Simplified analysis). Such a preliminary analysis does not replace a detailed assessment of the actual instrument performances, data availability, and quality of derived environmental data records against specific user requirements.

Note: The chart can be sorted by clicking on the header columns and filtered by instrument properties when applicable. Select the period of interest with the cursor at the bottom of the chart. Future missions which are not firmly planned are shaded with stripes. A warning icon (Important note) indicates degraded satellite: hover over the icon for details. The chart is followed by a table of all potentially relevant instruments.

Select a variable

or select a type of mission

Select WIGOS subcomponents

Analysis
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In "Simplified" mode, the results in the analysis are calculated by looking at each instrument's mission objectives: for each instrument we keep track of what the primary, secondary, and opportunity mission objectives are. These mission objectives indicate that an instrument is primarily envisioned to measure variable X, Y and Z, that variables A, B and C are its secondary objective, and that it may offer the opportunity to measure variables I and II although it is not optimized for that. The simplified Gap analysis produces a timeline based on this information. The simplified Gap analysis is only available for analyzing variables, not for missions.
In "Expert system" mode, the results in the analysis are calculated with an expert system. Internally, OSCAR works with a large set of 1700 rules that determine whether or not an instrument is capable of measuring a given variable, and to what degree. When you select "Expert system", the Gap analysis is performed based on this large set of rules.

Variable sorting criteria

 

Each instrument is assigned with a 5-step rating, evaluated as a blend of several elements.  For this particular Variable, the rating is driven by:

  • the exploited technology (radar or lidar);
  • the large swath capability.

 

RATING CRITERIA:

1
  • Large swath radar altimeter with built-in passive MW frequencies for water vapour correction
  • Large swath radar altimeter

2
  • Nadir-only radar altimeter with supporting C- or S- band frequency for ionospheric rotation

3
  • Nadir-only radar altimeter

4
  • Large-swath lidar altimeter

5
  • Nadir-only lidar altimeter
Measurement timeline for Ocean dynamic topography

Definition: Deviation of sea level from the geoid caused by ocean currents (after corrections for tides and atmospheric pressure effects) - Physical unit: [ cm ] - Accuracy unit: [ cm ].

Hint: Move around in the timeline by scrolling up, down, left or right.

Found 37 results

This table has a large number of results.
Hide inactive instruments
Instrument NRT? Relevance Satellite Orbit
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
KaRIN1 - primarySWOT78 °XXXX
SWIM1 - primaryCFOSAT07:00 desc
X
XXXX
SWIM1 - primaryCFOSAT follow-on07:00 descXXXXXX
SHIOSAI1 - primaryCOMPIRA51 °XXXXXX
ALT (high)2 - very highHY-2C66 °
X
XXXXX
ALT (high)2 - very highHY-2D66 °
X
XXXXX
ALT (high)2 - very highHY-2F66 °XXXXXX
ALT (high)2 - very highHY-2G66 °XXXXXX
ALT (sso) Important note2 - very highHY-2A06:00 desc
X
XXXXXXXXXX
ALT (sso)2 - very highHY-2B06:00 desc
X
XXXXX
ALT (sso)2 - very highHY-2E06:00 descXXXXXX
Altimeter2 - very highSWOT78 °XXXX
Altimeter (COMPIRA)2 - very highCOMPIRA51 °XXXXXX
NRA2 - very highTOPEX-Poseidon66 °
X
XXXXXXXXXXXX
X
Poseidon-22 - very highJASON-166 °
X
XXXXXXXXXXX
X
Poseidon-32 - very highJASON-266 °
X
XXXXXXXXXX
X
Poseidon-3BYes2 - very highJASON-366 °
X
XXXXX
Poseidon-42 - very highSentinel-6A66 °
X
XXXXXXX
Poseidon-42 - very highSentinel-6B66 °XXXXXXXX
RA-22 - very highEnvisat10:00 desc
X
XXXXXXXXX
X
SRALYes2 - very highSentinel-3A10:00 desc
X
XXXXXXX
SRALYes2 - very highSentinel-3B10:00 desc
X
XXXXXXX
SRAL2 - very highSentinel-3C10:00 descXXXXXXXX
SRAL2 - very highSentinel-3D10:00 descXXXXXXXX
AltiKa3 - highSARAL05:56 asc
X
XXXXXXXX
ALT (SeaSat)3 - highSeaSat108 °
X
GFO-RA3 - highGFO108 °
X
XXXXXXXXX
X
GRA3 - highGEOSat108 °
X
XXXX
X
RA3 - highERS-110:30 desc
X
XXXXXXXX
X
RA3 - highERS-210:30 desc
X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X
SIRAL3 - highCryoSat92 °
X
SIRALNo3 - highCryoSat-292 °
X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SSALT3 - highTOPEX-Poseidon66 °
X
XXXXXXXXXXXX
X
GEDI Lidar4 - fairISS GEDI51.6 °
X
XXX
MOLI lidar4 - fairISS MOLI51.6 °XXXXXX
GLAS5 - marginalICESat94 °
X
XXXXXX
X
ATLAS5 - marginalICESat-294 °
X
XXX
All instruments for measuring Ocean dynamic topography
Instruments Relevance Operational limitations
KaRIN1 - primary
SWIM1 - primary
SHIOSAI1 - primary
ALT (high)2 - very high
ALT (sso)2 - very high
Altimeter2 - very high
Altimeter (COMPIRA)2 - very high
NRA2 - very high
Poseidon-22 - very high
Poseidon-32 - very high
Poseidon-3B2 - very high
Poseidon-42 - very high
RA-22 - very high
SRAL2 - very high
AltiKa3 - high
ALT (SeaSat)3 - high
GFO-RA3 - high
GRA3 - high
RA3 - high
SIRAL3 - high
SSALT3 - high
GEDI Lidar4 - fair
MOLI lidar4 - fair
VCL4 - fair
GLAS5 - marginal
ATLAS5 - marginal