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