BackForwardInstrument:  CSG-SAR 

Instrument details
Acronym CSG-SAR
Full name COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation Synthetic Aperture Radar
Purpose High-resolution all-weather multi-purpose imager for ocean, land and ice
Short description X-band SAR, frequency 9.60 GHz, multi-polarisation and variable swath/resolution [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Evolution of SAR-2000 on CSK-1, CSK-2, CSK-3 and CSK-4
Scanning Technique Side-looking, possible both to left- and right- end (alternatively) 20-50° (up to 600 km) off-nadir, swath 7.3 to 200 km, depending on operation mode - See table
Resolution 0.35 to 40 m, depending on operation mode - See table
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 10 days for the largest swath mode (if used 50 % of the time). The constellation of two COSMO-SkyMed S.G. enables to address any selected target every 36 h or less, for emergency
Mass 810 kg Power 17000 W Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ASI
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2020 to 2034
Last update: 2021-06-15
Detailed characteristics

Mode

Resolution

Swath

Field-of-Regard

Polarisations

Spotlight

0.50x0.35 m

7.3x3.1

600 km, either right or left

Single: HH or VV or HV or VH

Spotlight

0.63x0.63 m

10 km

600 km, either right or left

Double: HH & HV or VV &VH

Stripmap

3.0x3.0 m

40 km

600 km, either right or left

Single: HH or VV or HV or VH

Stripmap

3.0x3.0 m

30 km

600 km, either right or left

Double: HH & HV or VV &VH

Stripmap

3.0x3.0 m

15 km

600 km, either right or left

Quadruple: HH & VV & HV & VH

ScanSAR

4x20 m

100 km

600 km, either right or left

Single: HH or VV or HV or VH

ScanSAR

6x40 m

200 km

600 km, either right or left

Double: HH & HV or VV &VH
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Active and radio-occultation sensor
  • Imaging radar (SAR)
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • SAR imagers and altimeters
  • SAR imager
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Fraction of vegetated land
  • Glacier motion
  • Glacier topography
  • Land cover
  • Land surface topography
  • Soil moisture at surface
  • Soil type
  • Vegetation type
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Dominant wave direction2 - very highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Dominant wave period2 - very highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Fire fractional cover3 - highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land*3 - highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Glacier cover2 - very highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion*5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Glacier topography*3 - highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography3 - highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover*3 - highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Land surface topography*3 - highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Oil spill cover1 - primaryInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Sea-ice cover1 - primaryNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation4 - fairNo specific limitation.X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness4 - fairChange detection only.X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Sea-ice type2 - very highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
Significant wave height3 - highHighly indirect.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Retrieved by spectral analysis of "imagettes". Boundary condition necessary for the retrieval
Snow cover3 - highThick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Snow status (wet/dry)4 - fairThick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Snow water equivalent3 - highChange detection only.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture at surface*3 - highStrongly affected by vegetation.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Soil type*3 - highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Vegetation type*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum2 - very highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"