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Instrument details
Acronym
SWIM
Full name
Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring instrument.
Purpose
Wave spectra (power distribution, function of direction and wavelength/period); and significant wave height (at nadir).
Short description
Multi-beam altimeter, Ku-band (13.575 GHz), rotating to implement large swath
Background
New development
Scanning Technique
6 beams, incidence angles 0°, 2.4°, 4°, 6°, 8° and 10°, rotating at 5.7 rpm, implementing a swath of 180 km.
Resolution
18 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle
Global in one weak.
Mass
Power
Data Rate
Providing Agency
CNES
Instrument Maturity
Utilization Period:
2019 to ≥2022
Last update:
2021-08-30
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 altimeter Conventional radar altimeter Subcomponent 3 Wide-swath radar altimeter for vegetation mapping
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives Sea-ice elevation Sea-ice thickness Secondary mission objectives Coastal sea level (tide) Geoid Ocean dynamic topography
Opportunity objectives Gravity field Wind speed (near surface) 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
Coastal sea level (tide) 1 - primary Infrequent coverage. Single-frequency Ku-band radar altimeter with large swath for mapping
Geoid 2 - very high Infrequent coverage.. Long time series needed. Geoid derived from multi-temporal analysis of radar altimetry data
Gravity field 4 - fair Partial information (geoid). Gravity field derived from multi-temporal analysis of radar altimetry data
Ocean dynamic topography 1 - primary Infrequent coverage.. Long time for mapping. Single-frequency Ku-band radar altimeter with large swath for mapping
Sea-ice elevation 3 - high Infrequent coverage. The large swath helps measuring the elevation of the ice border over the sea level
Sea-ice thickness 3 - high Infrequent coverage.. Change detection only. The large swath helps measuring the elevation of the ice border over the sea level. Thickness inferred
Significant wave height 1 - primary Infrequent coverage. The large swath enables more frequent global coverage
Wind speed (near surface) 4 - fair Over sea only.. Infrequent coverage. Improved coverage associated to better resolution, that implies better accuracy
Instrument: SWIM