Meeting Global Customer Needs of RADARSAT-2 Data
- Paper number
IAC-07-B1.4.04
- Author
Dr. Satish Srivastava, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Coauthor
- Coauthor
Mr. Philippe Rolland, MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates, Canada
- Year
2007
- Abstract
A key priority of the Canadian Space Program is to provide high-quality Earth Observation data on an operational basis to commercial, government and scientific users worldwide. Of particular interest to Canada is responding to the challenges of monitoring its environment and managing its natural resources. The program started with the launch of Canadian Space Agency's (CSA's) RADARSAT-1 satellite with a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument on-board on November 4, 1995. RADARSAT-1 has successfully completed its designed operational life of five years and presently it is in extended mission. RADARSAT-2, having again a state-of-the-art C-band SAR, is a follow-on mission to RADARSAT-1. This mission is developed under a unique partnership between the CSA and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA). Under an agreement with the CSA, MDA owns and operates the satellite. The CSA's investment will be recovered through the provision of SAR data to the Canadian Government user departments through out the mission life. The commercial objective of the mission is the supply of SAR data and products that will meet the needs of present and future markets, with a commercially viable approach. Presently the spacecraft is under final testing phase and is scheduled for launch this year. The design of end-to-end RADARSAT-2 system represents a significant evolution from RADARSAT-1 with new capabilities added. The SAR antenna will reproduce all RADARSAT-1 beam modes, and will additionally provide selectable polarization options for each of these modes to have optimum performance for a particular application. The Quad-Polarization mode generates fully polarimetric data for all polarization combinations: HH, VV, HV, and VH. It will also have a three-meter resolution capability, opening up new markets in mapping and surveillance applications. The satellite will maintain the same orbit as of RADARSAT-1 but will also operate in either right-looking mode or left-looking mode. Transitions between right and left-looking modes will be achievable in ten minutes, improving revisit times. From the lessons learned with RADARSAT-1, the Ground Segment and Operation have been improved to better satisfy market demand. Among the improvements, it is worth mentioning an improved ordering deadline: 12 hours before command execution period versus 29 hours for RADARSAT-1, data ordering and automated order information feedback to the user through a web interface, faster processing and delivery time. In this paper we will present details of the RADARSAT-2 mission with an emphasis on operational aspects of data ordering, planning, processing, archiving and delivery.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-B1.4.04.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.