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Instrument details
Acronym
HRWS-SAR
Full name
High Resolution Wide Swath X-Band Digital Beamforming SAR
Purpose
High-resolution all-weather multi-purpose imager for ocean, land and ice
Short description
X-band SAR, frequency 9.65 GHz, multi-polarisation and variable swath/resolution. Swath stretching implemented by digital beamforming. [see detailed characteristics below]
Background
New development
Scanning Technique
Side-looking, swath 10 to 800 km, depending on operation mode - See table
Resolution
0.25 to 25 m, depending on operation mode - See table
Coverage / Cycle
Determined by the operating mode. Minimum revisit time for a selected location: 2 d
Mass
Power
Data Rate
Providing Agency
DLR
Instrument Maturity
Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:
≥2026 to ≥2034
Last update:
2021-06-15
Detailed characteristics
Operation mode
Resolution
Swath
Polarisation
Spotlight
0.25x0.5 m
10 km
HH or VV or HV or VH
HR Stripmap
0.5x0.5 m
20 km
HH or VV or HV or VH
Stripmap
1x1 m
70 km
HH or VV or HV or VH
ScanSAR
25x25 m
800 km
HH or VV or HV or 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
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 Secondary mission objectives Fire fractional cover Glacier cover Ice sheet topography Oil spill cover Sea-ice cover Sea-ice type Snow cover Snow status (wet/dry) Snow water equivalent Opportunity objectives Dominant wave direction Dominant wave period Sea-ice elevation Sea-ice thickness Significant wave height Wave directional energy frequency spectrum Show all Show fewer
Tentative 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
Variable Relevance for measuring this variable Operational limitations Explanation
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"
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 cover 2 - very high Long time for mapping. X-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion 5 - marginal Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
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
Oil spill cover 1 - primary Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR
Sea-ice cover 1 - primary No specific limitation. 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
Sea-ice type 2 - very high No specific limitation. X-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
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 status (wet/dry) 4 - fair 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
Vegetation type 5 - marginal No specific limitation. X-band SAR
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum 2 - very high Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Instrument: HRWS-SAR