MEaSUREs: Input SAR data

Spaceborne SAR data contributing to the project

Spaceborne SAR data acquisitions between 2007 and 2010 are courtesy of the International Polar Year (IPY) Space Task Group (STG) (more information)

On the eve of the international polar year, international space agencies worked together to enable a complete InSAR survey of Antarctica. Here, we employ spring 2009 data from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)’s and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA)’s RADARSAT-2, spring 2007-2008-2009 data from European Space Agency (ESA)’s Envisat ASAR, and fall 2007-2008 data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) PALSAR, complemented by patches of CSA’s RADARSAT-1 data from fall 2000 and ESA’s ERS-1/2 data from spring 1996. Each radar instrument contributes its unique coverage and performance level. The final mosaic assembles 900 satellite tracks and more than 3,000 orbits of radar data.

Platform/Sensor SpaceAgency Look Dir. Mode Repeat Cycle (day) Frequency (GHz) Year
ALOS PALSAR and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Right FBS 46 1.27 – L Band 2006-2010
ERS-1 , ERS-2, and ENVISAT ASAR European Space Agency (ESA) Right N/A 1-3 5.33 – C Band 1996
RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 Canadian Space Agency (ESA) Left/Right Varies 24 5.33 – C Band  1997/2000
Copernicus Sentinal-1a/b European Space Agency (ESA)  Right IW-T OPS 12 5.33 – C Band 2014-2016
COSMO SkyMed

Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)

Left/Right Varies 1-16 X band 2013
TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X German Space Agency (DLR) Left/Right Varies 11 9.65 – X band 2011-2016
ENVISAT/ASAR European Space Agency (ESA) Right IS2 35 5.3 – C Band 2007-2009
Landsat-8/OLI USGS/NASA N/A Panchromatic 16 2013-2016

 

RADARSAT-1 and ALOS PALSAR data are provided through the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF)
RADARSAT-2 data are processed (focused) and provided by MDA