BackForwardInstrument:  HRWS-SAR 

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: 2029 to 2036
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
  • 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
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"
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