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SensorDescription...RADARSAT1
Background...TheRADARSAT1programoriginatedasanambitiousprogramundertakenbytheCanadianSpace
Agencytodevelopandlaunchtheworldsfirstcivilianoperationalradarequippedsatellite.RADARSAT1marks
CanadasentryintoremotesensingsatellitesandwasthebeginningofanewCanadianlegacyRADARSAT2isthe
nextgenerationCanadianradarsatelliteandisscheduledforlaunchinlate2003.
Inadditiontoservingthenationalneedsofgovernmentpartners,RADARSAT1was
designedtogenerateadditionaldataforuseinthecommercialmarketplace.Withits
highresolutionandbroadswath,andthefactthatthedatacanbeusedin
conjunctionwithimageryfromothersatellites,RADARSAT1imageryhas
significantutilizationandcommercialvalue.

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AtthecoreoftheRADARSAT1programisacommitmenttoprovidinganewlookatworldwide
resourceandenvironmentalmanagementinformation.RADARSAT1SARpenetratescloudanddarkness
toobtainreliable,qualityimagesoftheEarthssurface.Thisprovidesadefiniteadvantageinviewing
suchareasaspolarregionsandequatorialandcoastalareaswherecloudsandfoggyconditionspreclude
visualsatelliteobservationoreventheoperationofaircraft.
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RADARSAT1offersselectableconfigurationtoviewsmallerareasingreaterdetailortocoverlarge
areasinlesserdetail.ThecoverageavailablethroughScanSARprovidesmorefrequentcoverage,
rangingfromdailyinthepolarregionstocoverageeverysixdaysattheequator.Thesystemisdesigned
toberesponsivetouserneedsinthatdownlinkingsystemstogroundreceivingstationscombinethe
capabilityofprovidingnearrealtimeprocessingofthedata.Theonboardrecorderswillallowgathering
ofdataanywhereontheEarthssurface.
SatelliteOverview
RADARSATisequippedwithastateoftheartSyntheticApertureRadar(SAR)thathasthefollowing

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features:
Multipleimagemodesforoptimizeddetectioncapabilities
ScanSARcapabilityforwideareacoverage
Finebeamcapabilityforhighresolutionuses
Cloudfreeimagesoftheearth
Archiveddatasince1996
Globaldataavailability
Nearrealtimeprocessing
Electronicdatadelivery
Frequentrevisitformonitoringandemergencyresponse
Programmingforemergenciesandpriorities
Datacalibrationforchangedetectionstudies
TheRADARSATSARcanbesteeredtocollectdataovera1,175kmswathusing7beammodes.
Thisprovidesuserswithsuperbflexibilityinacquiringimageswitharangeofresolutions,incidence
angles,andcoverageareas.
TechnicalSpecifications
CBandwavelength(5.6cm)
HHpolarization(Horizontallytransmitted,Horizontallyreceived)
Resolution:8100m
35IncidenceAngles:1059range
Rightlooking,steerableantenna
SwathWidth:50500kmrange
7beammodes,35beampositions
RepeatCycle:24days
StereoscopicViewing
BeamModes
TheRADARSATSARinstrumentconsistsofaradartransmitter,aradarreceiverandadata
downlinktransmitter.Theradartransmitterandreceiveroperatethroughanelectricallysteerable
antennathatdirectsthetransmittedenergyinanarrowbeamnormaltothesatellitetrack.The
elevationangleandtheelevationprofileofthebeam(beampositions)canbeadjustedsothatthe
beaminterceptstheearth'ssurfaceoverthedesiredrangeofincidenceangles.Theabilityto
choosethebeamandpositionisimportantbecauseimagecharacteristicsvarywiththeincidence
angleassociatedwitheachbeam.Inaddition,byvaryingthecharacteristicsofthetransmitted
pulsesandthereceivertiming,differentresolutionandcoveragecanbeachieved.Thebeam
modesareeachcharacterizedbyaspecificbeamelevationangleandprofile,asshownbelow.

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BeamModeDescriptions
WithineachRADARSATbeammode,anumberofincidenceanglepositionsareavailable.Theseare
calledbeampositions.Forexample,Standardbeammode,whichcoversa100x100kmarea,has
sevenbeampositions.Byspecifyingabeamposition,oneofseven100x100kmimageswithina
500kmaccessibleswathwillbecollected.

RADARSATBeamModes
TheRADARSATcanbesteeredtoimageovera500kmswathusinganumberofimagingmodes.
Thisprovidesuserswithsuperbflexibilityinacquiringimageswitharangeofresolutions,incidence
angles,andcoverageareas.

Foranygivenbeammode,thesamebeamangleandprofileisusedforbothtransmitandreceive.
Thereceiverdetectstheechoresultingfrombackscatteringofthetransmittedsignalfromthe
earth'ssurface.Thedetectedsignalisthendigitizedandencodedpriortotransmissiontotheon
grounddatareceptionfacility.Datatransmissionmayoccurinrealtimeasthedataiscollected,or
thedatamaybestoredontheonboardtaperecorders(OBR)forlatertransmission.
Subsequentprocessingofthesignalallowstheformationofhighresolutionradarimagesofthe
earth'ssurface.Furtherprocessingofthisdatapermitsextractionofavarietyofgeophysicaldata.
TheSARinstrumentmaybeoperatedinoneoftwomodes:
1.SingleBeam
2.ScanSAR
SingleBeamMode
InSingleBeamModeoperation,thebeamelevationandprofilearemaintainedconstant
throughoutthedatacollectionperiod.Abeamischaracterizedbyits:
nominalincidenceangle
nominalswathwidth
nominalspatialresolution
SingleBeamOperationalModes
FineBeamTheFinebeammodeisintendedforapplicationswhichrequirethebestspatial
resolutionavailablefromtheRADARSATsystem.Theazimuthresolutionis8.4m,withrange
resolution9.1mto7.8mfromF1toF5.Sincetheradaroperateswithahighersamplingrate
inthismodethaninanyoftheotherbeammodes,thegroundswathcoveragehastobe
reducedtoanominal50kminordertokeepthedownlinksignalwithinitsallocated
bandwidth.Originally,fiveFinebeampositions,F1toF5,wereavailabletocoverthefar
rangeoftheswath,theincidenceanglerangefrom37to47degrees.Bymodifyingtiming
parameters,10newpositionshavebeenaddedwithoffsetgroundcoverage.Eachoriginal
FinebeampositioncaneitherbeshiftedclosertoorfurtherawayfromNadir.Theresulting
positionsaredenotedbyeitheranN(Near)orF(Far).Forexample,F1isnowcomplemented
byF1NandF1F.
StandardBeamStandardbeammodeoperateswithanyoneofsevenbeampositions,
referredtoasS1toS7.Thenominalincidenceanglerangecoveredbythefullsetof
Standardbeamisfrom20degrees(attheinneredgeofS1)to49degrees(attheouteredge
ofS7).Thespatialresolutionis27minazimuthand26m(near)to20m(far)inrange
direction.Eachindividualbeamcoversaminimumgroundswathof100kmwithinthetotal
500kmaccessibilityswathofthefullsetofStandardbeams.Thenominalspatialresolution
intherangedirectionis26mforS1atnearrangeto20mforS7atfarrange.Theazimuth
resolutionisthesame,27m,forallbeampositions.Standardbeammodesallowimaging
overawiderangeofincidenceangleswithoptimumsystemimagequality.
WideBeamWidebeamsaresimilartotheStandardbeamsexceptthattheswathwidth

achievedbythisbeamis150kmratherthan100km.Asaresult,onlythreeWidebeams,
W1,W2andW3arenecessarytoprovidecoverageofalmostallofthe500kmswathrange.
Theyprovidethecomparableresolutionasthestandardbeammodealthoughtheincreased
groundswathcoverageisobtainedattheexpenseofaslightreductioninoverallimage
quality.W1andW2areavailableforsinglebeamproducts.W3isusedasoneofthebeams
toformSWAproductbutnotrecommendedforindividualimagebecauseitcontainsanadir
ambiguity(narrowwhiteverticalstripintheimage).
ExtendedHighBeamSixExtendedHighbeampositions,EH1toEH6,areavailablefor
collectionofdatainthe49to60degreeincidenceanglerange.Sincethisbeammode
operatesoutsidetheoptimumscananglerangeoftheSARantenna,someminordegradation
ofimagequalitycanbeexpectedwhencomparedwiththeStandardbeammode.Swath
widthsarerestrictedtoanominal80kmfortheinnerthreepositions,and70kmforthe
outerthreepositions.TheoperationalbeampositionsonsatelliteareEH1,EH3,EH4andEH6,
whichcancoverthecompleteExtendedHighbeamswath.
ExtendedLowBeamAsingleExtendedLowbeamposition,EL1,isprovidedforimagingin
theincidenceanglerange10to23degreeswithanominalgroundswathcoverageof170km.
AswiththeExtendedHighbeammode,someminordegradationofimagequalitycanbe
expectedduetooperationoftheantennabeyonditsoptimumelevationanglerange.

ScanSARMode
InScanSARoperationeithertwo,threeorfoursinglebeamsareusedduringdatacollection.Each
beamisselectedsequentiallysothatdataiscollectedfromawiderswaththanispossiblewitha
singlebeam.Thebeamswitchingratesarechosentoensureatleastone"look"attheearth's
surfaceforeachbeamwithinthealongtrackilluminationtimeordwelltimeoftheantennabeam.
Inpractice,theradarbeamswitchingisadjustedtoprovidetwolooksperbeam.
ThebeammultiplexinginherentinScanSARoperationreducestheeffectivesamplingratewithin
eachofthecomponentbeams,hencetheincreasedswathcoverageisobtainedattheexpenseof
spatialresolution.
RADARSAT1Orbit
RADARSAT1isinanearpolar,sunsynchronousorbit798kmabovetheEarth.Ithasadawnto
duskorbit,meaningitcrossestheequatoratdawnanddusk,andisrarelyineclipseordarkness.
Theorbitcharacteristicsare:
Geometrycircular,sunsynchronous(dawndusk)
Altitude798km
Inclination98.6
Period100.7minutes

RepeatCycle24days
OrbitsPerDay14
Movingat7kmpersecond,RADARSATcirclestheEarth
14timesperdayinitsnearpolarorbit.Itstrajectory
tracesanellipticalpathwayataninclinationof98.6
degreestotheequatorialplane.Thisdawnduskorbit
allowsRADARSAT'ssolararraystocontinuouslydraw
energyfromthesun.
RADARSATisarightlookingsensor,facingeastduringthe
ascendingorbitandwestduringthedescendingorbit.The
lookdirectioncanhaveasignificantinfluenceonthe
appearanceofradarimageryespeciallywhenfeatures
haveanorganizedlinearstructure(e.g.,agricultural
surfacesorgeologicalstructures).

OrbitCharacteristics
Tosomeextent,RADARSAT'sorbitcharacteristicswilldeterminethespecificdatewhenan
acquisitioncanbemadeandthenumberofdaysbetweensubsequentacquisitions.Therevisit
scheduleforaspecificlocationwilldependon:
thelatitudeofthelocation,
yourdesiredbeammode,and
theflexibilityinchangingthebeamposition.
RADARSAT1requires24daystoreturntoitsoriginalorbitpath.Thismeansthatformost
geographicregions,itwilltake24daystoobtainexactlythesameimage(samebeammode,
position,andgeographiccoverage).However,RADARSAT'simagingflexibilityallowsimagestobe
acquiredonamorefrequentbasis.
BecauseRADARSAT'sScanSARbeammodecoverssuchalargearea,alocationcanbeviewedas
frequentlyasonceadayinhighlatitudesandlessthanonceeveryfivedaysattheequator.For
otherbeammodes,thebeampositioncanbechangedsoalocationcanbeimagedmore
frequently.
AdditionalinformationaboutRADARSAT1canalsobefoundat
http://www.space.gc.ca/csa_sectors/earth_environment/radarsat/default.asp
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