RADARSAT-2 Mission Operations status

Abstract

This paper provides a status of the RADARSAT-2 system and operations performance, describes significant changes implemented over the last year, and also provides further detail of some of the data and value-added product delivery achievements demonstrating the utility of the RADARSAT-2 system. The status of the spacecraft and ground segment is reviewed along with related performance metrics and recent history. Status of the system operations functional areasOperations Management and Mission System Engineering, Order Handling and Mission Planning, Spacecraft Operations, and Data Handling is summarized. The MDA GSI RADAR Production team had a record production year in 2010, which included preparation of an Antarctica mosaic as well as products to service several large area DEM projects. The performance results are summarized. A number of system upgrade and improvement initiatives have been underway during the routine phase of the mission. Several of these have now been completed. The paper provides further information on the details of these enhancements and their implementation. Outline planning for further system and operations enhancements are summarized. INTRODUCTIONRADARSAT-2 has now completed three years of routine phase operations. The spacecraft and ground segment continue to perform well and the operations team have successfully implemented a number of system enhancements and improvements. Performance in system commissioning and the first year of operations was reported at IGARSS 2009 [1], and an update covering the second year of operations and the enhancement program was provided at IGARSS 2010 [2]. This paper provides a status of the system and operations performance, describes significant changes implemented over the last year, and also provides further detail of some of the data and value-added product delivery achievements.

Geomorphological mapping of ice-free areas using polarimetric RADARSAT-2 data on Fildes Peninsula and Ardley Island, Antarctica

“…Research work has been published to illustrate the surface mapping capabilities of RADARSAT-2 and its potential for global exploration applications within the Antarctic region (Scheuchl et al, 2012;Schmid et al, 2012). This has also been shown by the RADARSAT-2 Antarctica mosaic that was acquired during 2008 (Hillman et al, 2011).…”

Radar Backscatter Modeling Based on Global TanDEM-X Mission Data

“…These two satellites are equipped with a SAR antenna operating at C band, and provide continuity of data after ENVISAT, with enhanced capabilities in terms of revisit time and coverage. The Canadian Space Agency launched RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 in 1995 and 2007, respectively: two C-band SAR satellites, whose orbit is optimized for regularly observing the Arctic up to the pole, at the disadvantage of loosing the illumination of the central areas of Antarctica [20], [21].…”

“…The direction of propagation of such a wave is defined by the cross product E × H, being the latter oriented accordingly and parallel to the z axis. Assuming to have E components along x only (E y = 0) and travelling in the +z direction only, (2.20) becomes: 21) and, by applying (2.7), the associated magnetic field is: 22) where:…”

Ten Years of Experience with Scientific TerraSAR-X Data Utilization

“…Europe, in particular the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan have run SAR missions since the early 1990s. In this regard, these SAR missions [4][5][6][7], their objectives [8,9] and design, the sensors and other technical aspects were of interest [1,2,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. Also the summary of a research call [15] and the potential for specific geoscientific applications are presented [16][17][18][19][20].…”