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Instrument details
Acronym
X-SAR
Full name
X-SAR
Purpose
High-resolution all-weather imager for ocean, land and ice with focus on Asian cities.
Short description
X-band SAR, frequency 9.65 GHz and variable swath/resolution [see detailed characteristics below]
Background
New development to demonstrate X-Band SARs on a mini-satellite.
Scanning Technique
Swath width 10 to 30 km. See table below for options. Off nadir pointing between 15 and 45 deg.
Resolution
1 - 3 m (see table)
Coverage / Cycle
Coverage increases with number of satellites. 1 day repeat cycle for 6 satellites.
Mass
150 kg
Power
Data Rate
Providing Agency
Synspective
Instrument Maturity
Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:
2021 to ≥2030
Last update:
2022-03-03
Detailed characteristics
Operation mode Resolution Swath Polarisation
Spotlight
1 m
10 km
VV
Stripmap
3 m
30 km
VV
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 4 SAR constellation (commercial)
Mission objectives
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
Fire fractional cover 3 - high Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land 3 - high No specific limitation. X-band SAR
Glacier cover 2 - very high Long time for mapping. X-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion 5 - marginal Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Glacier topography 3 - high Long time for mapping. X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography 3 - high Long time for mapping. X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover 3 - high No specific limitation. X-band SAR
Land surface topography 3 - high Long time for mapping. X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Oil spill cover 1 - primary Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR
Sea-ice cover 1 - primary No specific limitation. X-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation 4 - fair No specific limitation. X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness 4 - fair Change detection only. X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Sea-ice type 2 - very high No specific limitation. X-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
Snow cover 3 - high Thick snow only.. Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR
Snow status (wet/dry) 4 - fair Thick snow only.. Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR
Snow water equivalent 3 - high Change detection only.. Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture at surface 3 - high Strongly affected by vegetation.. Infrequent coverage. X-band SAR
Soil type 3 - high No specific limitation. X-band SAR
Vegetation type 5 - marginal No specific limitation. X-band SAR
Instrument: X-SAR