WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument CSG-SAR

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Instrument: 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 2033
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

COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (ASI)
- CSG-1 (see instrument status) Mar 2020 - 2026
- CSG-2 (see instrument status) Apr 2022 - 2029
- CSG-3 (see instrument status) Jan 2026 - 2032
- CSG-4 (see instrument status) 2027 - 2033

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.

Search:

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Oil spill cover	1 - primary	Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR
Sea-ice cover	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR
Dominant wave direction	2 - very high	Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Dominant wave period	2 - very high	Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Glacier cover	2 - very high	Long time for mapping.	X-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum	2 - very high	Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Sea-ice type	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
Fire fractional cover	3 - high	Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land*	3 - high	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR
Glacier topography*	3 - high	Long time for mapping.	X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography	3 - high	Long time for mapping.	X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover*	3 - high	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR
Land surface topography*	3 - high	Long time for mapping.	X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Significant wave height	3 - high	Highly indirect.. Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR. Retrieved by spectral analysis of "imagettes". Boundary condition necessary for the retrieval
Snow cover	3 - high	Thick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR
Snow water equivalent	3 - high	Change detection only.. Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture at surface*	3 - high	Strongly affected by vegetation.. Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR
Soil type*	3 - high	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR
Snow status (wet/dry)	4 - fair	Thick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation	4 - fair	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness	4 - fair	Change detection only.	X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Glacier motion*	5 - marginal	Infrequent coverage.	X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Vegetation type*	5 - marginal	No specific limitation.	X-band SAR

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