BackForwardInstrument:  RA 

Instrument details
Acronym RA
Full name Radar Altimeter
Purpose Ocean topography, significant wave height, wind speed on sea surface
Short description Single frequency (13.8 GHz)
Background Flown on ERS-1 (1991-2000) and ERS-2 (1995-2011)
Scanning Technique Nadir-only viewing, continuous sampling along track
Resolution 20 km IFOV
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 1 month for 30 km average spacing, or in 10 days for 100 km average spacing
Mass 96 kg Power 130 W Data Rate 15 kbps

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 1991 to 2011
Last update: 2012-06-06
Detailed characteristics
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
  • Radar altimeter
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Wide-swath radar altimeters, and high altitude, inclined, high-precision orbit altimeters
  • High-altitude, inclined, high-precision orbit altimeters
  • Conventional radar altimeter
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Magnetospheric energetic particles and magnetometers
  • Ionospheric total electron content sensor [at LEO and cross magnetosphere]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Geoid
  • Ocean dynamic topography
  • Significant wave height
Evaluation of Measurements