BackForwardInstrument:  ROSE-L 

Instrument details
Acronym ROSE-L
Full name Radar Observation System for Europe in L-band
Purpose High-resolution all-weather multi-purpose imager for forestry, soil moisture and polar ice
Short description L-band SAR, frequency 1.2575 GHz, multi-polarisation and variable resolution and swath. Interferometric capability both with a satellite flying in parallel at the same time, and as stand-alone in successive passes.
Background Complimentary to the C-band SAR of the Sentinel-1 satellite series.
Scanning Technique Side-looking, 15-45° off-nadir, swath 80 to 400 km, depending on operation mode
Resolution Depending on operation mode. Best: <= 5 m.
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in few days to several weeks, depending on operation mode.
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2028 to 2033
Last update: 2022-03-28
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
  • Imaging radar (SAR)
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • SAR imagers and altimeters
  • SAR imager
  • Subcomponent 3
  • MW imagery [in SSO]
  • Low-frequency SAR for vegetation mapping
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Biomass
  • Fraction of vegetated land
  • Land cover
  • Land surface topography
  • Oil spill cover
  • Sea-ice cover
  • Soil moisture at surface
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
Biomass*2 - very highIndex only.. Infrequent coverage.L-band sensitive to total biomass
Dominant wave direction5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Dominant wave period5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Fire fractional cover3 - highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Glacier cover1 - primaryLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Glacier topography2 - very highLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography2 - very highLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Land surface topography*2 - very highLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Oil spill cover*2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR
Sea-ice cover*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness5 - marginalChange detection only.L-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Sea-ice type3 - highNo specific limitation.L-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
Significant wave height5 - marginalHighly indirect.. Infrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Retrieved by spectral analysis of "imagettes". Boundary condition necessary for the retrieval
Snow water equivalent4 - fairChange detection only.. Infrequent coverage.L-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture (in the roots region)2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR
Soil moisture at surface*2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR
Soil type5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Vegetation type5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"