Microwave Sensors List 1

Satellite and Airborne Microwave Sensors
(some of the slides are courtesy of Mr. Tom vanDeak of NASA)
AirMOSS
NASA P-band Airborne SAR (modified UAVSAR)
Start date: June 2012
Altitude: 12.5 km
Polarization: H, V
Frequency: 430 MHz
Bandwidth: 20 MHz
Pulse width: 40 sec
Pulse repetition frequency: 1200 Hz
Transmit power: 2 kW [peak] / 96 W [average]

Chirp rate: 0.5 MHz/sec
Transmit duty cycle: 4.8%
ALOS-1 PALSAR
JAXA Advanced Land Observing Satellite-1: Phased Array L-band

Synthetic Aperture Radar
Launch: January 2006
Orbit: Polar orbit at 691 km and 98.16 inclination with 46 day repeat
Polarization: single: HH or VV, dual: HH+HV or VV+VH, or polarimetric

depending on the mode.
Frequency: 1270 MHz
Bandwidth: 14 or 28 MHz
Pulse width: 27 or 16 sec
Pulse repetition frequency: 1500 to 2500 Hz
Transmit power: 2 kW [peak]
Transmit duty cycle: 12 min/orbit
ALOS-2 PALSAR-2
JAXA Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2: Phased Array L-band

Synthetic Aperture Radar-2
Launch: May 2014
Orbit: Polar orbit at 628 km 97.9 inclination with 14 day repeat
Polarization: single: HH or VV, dual: HH+HV or VV+VH, or polarimetric

depending on the mode.
Frequency: 1236.5 / 1257.5 / 1278.5 MHz (selectable)
Bandwidth: 14 / 28 / 42 / 84 MHz
Transmit power: 3.3 or 6.1 kW [peak]

Transmit duty cycle: 27 min/orbit
Altimeter and Scatterometer on HY2A
Dual-band (C- and Ku-) radar altimeter and Ku-band scatterometer

on CAST (China) HY-2A Earth Observation Mission
Launch: August 2011
Polarization: Linear VV [altimeter]; Linear HH and VV [scatterometer]
Frequency: 5.25 GHz, 13.58 GHz [altimeter]; 13.2555 GHz

[scatterometer]
Bandwidth: 160 MHz (C-band), 20 MHz, 80 MHz, 320 MHz (Ku-band)

[altimeter]; 36 MHz [scatterometer]
Pulse width: 102 sec [altimeter]; 6501200 sec [scatterometer]

Pulse repetition frequency: 10004000 Hz [altimeter]; 100200 Hz
[scatterometer]
Transmit power: 20 W (peak) / 8.2 W (average) [altimeter]; 120 W (peak)

/ 28.2 W (average) [scatterometer]
Chirp rate: 1.56 MHz/sec, 0.2 MHz/sec, 0.78 MHz/sec, 3.12

MHz/sec [altimeter]; 0.005 MHz/sec [scatterometer]
Transmit duty cycle: 40.96% [altimeter]; 24% [scatterometer]
HY-2 is a second generation ocean observation/monitoring satellite series

approved by CNSA (China National Space Administration) Beijing in Feb.
2007. The HY-2A mission represents a follow-up of the HY-1A and HY-
1B missions. The overall objective of HY-2 is the measurement of ocean
dynamic and environmental parameters in the microwave region (i.e., all
weather observations). The requirements call also for the collection of data
on marine wind setup (wind vector), marine surface height, and SST (Sea
Surface Temperature), along with aero-marine forecasts for the prevention
and relief of disaster.
AMR
Advanced Microwave Radiometer on NASA/CNES Surface Water and

Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission
Projected launch: 2020
Orbit: Orbit at 970 km and 78 inclination with 22 day repeat
Frequency: 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, and 34 GHz
SWOT satellite mission and its wide-swath altimetry technology are a

means of completely covering the world's oceans and freshwater bodies
with repeated elevation measurements. Corrects radar data for signal delays
caused by tropospheric water vapor.
AMSU
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit on NASA's AQUA

Launch: 4 May 2002
Orbit: Sun-synchronous at 705 km, ascending node crossing at 1330 with a

16 day repeat cycle
Frequency: 23.8 GHz, 31.4 GHz, 50.3 GHz, 53 GHz (2),55 GHz (3), 57.3
GHz GHz (5), 89 GHz
AMSU Provides vertical temperature profiles up to 50 km; Window

channels correct temperature soundings for surface emissivity, atmospheric
liquid water, and total precipitable water.
Aquarius/SAC-D
Integrated L-band radiometers and scatterometer on NASA/CONAE

Aquarius/SAC-D
Launch: June 2011
Orbit: Polar orbit at 657 km and 98 inclination with 7 day repeat
Polarization: Linear H and V
Frequency: 1.42 GHz
Measures the microwave brightness temperatures of the ocean surface,

which are sensitive to salinity and surface roughness. Radiometer
measurements are complemented by the scatterometer system measuring
ocean roughness.
Aquarius/SAC-D Scatterometer
NASA Mission Flying on Argentina SAC-D Satellite
Launch: June 2011
Frequency: 1.26 GHz
Bandwidth: 4 MHz
Pulse width: 1000 sec
Transmit power: 200 W [peak] / 20 W [average]

Transmit duty cycle: 10%
Three beam scatterometer system which complements radiometer

measurements of ocean salinity.
ASAR
Advanced SAR on ESA Environmental Satellite (EnviSat)
Launch: 1 March 2005
Orbit: Near-circular sun-synchronous orbit at 800 km and 98.55

inclination with a 35 day repeat cycle
Polarization: HH, VV, VV/HH, HV/HH, VH/VV
Frequency: 5.331 GHz

Pulse repetition frequency: 1.652.1 kHz
Transmit power: 6471395 W [mode-dependent]
The main objective of ASAR is to provide information on: ocean waves,

sea ice extent and motion, snow and ice extent, surface topography, land
surface properties, Earth's biomass (especially deforestation in equatorial
zones), surface soil moisture and wetland extent.
Important applications by ASAR to the global mission include: Measuring

sea-state conditions at various scales; Mapping ice-sheet characteristics and
dynamics; Mapping sea-ice distribution and dynamics; Detecting large-
scale vegetation changes; Monitoring natural and man-made pollution over
the oceans.
Some ASAR applications for the regional mission are in the following
areas: Offshore operations in sea ice; Snow and ice mapping; Coastal
protection and pollution monitoring; Ship traffic monitoring, agriculture
and forest monitoring; Soil moisture monitoring; Geological exploration,
topographic mapping; Predicting, tracking and responding to natural
hazards.
ASCAT
Advanced Scatterometer on ESA/EUMETSAT MetOp satellites

Launch: October 2006 [MetOp-A]; September 2012 [MetOp-B]
Orbit: Polar orbit at 840 km and 98.8 inclination with 29 day repeat cycle
Polarization: Linear VV
Pulse width: 10,000 sec
Transmit power: 120 W [peak] / 34.8 W [average]
ASCAT is MetOp's Advanced SCATterometer. Its primary function is to

provide measurements of wind velocity over the world's oceans using radar.
ATMS
Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder on NOAA's Suomi National

Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) mission
Launch: October 2011
Orbit: Sun-synchronous at 824 km and 98.74 inclination, descending

node at 1030 local, with 16 day repeat cycle (8-day quasi-repeat)
Frequency: 23.8 GHz, 31.4 GHz, 50.3 GHz, 51.8-55.5 GHz (6), 57.3 GHz
(6), 89 GHz, 166.3 GHz, and 183.3 GHz (6)
Microwave sounder data, and infrared sounder (CrIS) data, provide daily
global atmospheric temperature, moisture, and pressure profiles. SNPP
mission demonstrates the new technology to be flown on the next
generation of NOAA low-altitude, polar-orbiting weather satellites.
COSMO-SkyMed
COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin

Observation on Italian Space Agency (ISA) X-band SAR mission
Launch: June 2007
Polarization: Linear HH
Frequency: 9.6 GHz
Bandwidth: 41118 MHz
Transmit power: 7.6 kW [peak] / 836 W [average]

CPR
Cloud Profiling Radar on NASA/CSA Cloudsat
Launch: 28 April 2006
Polarization: Linear
Bandwidth: 0.37 MHz
Pulse width: 3.33 sec
Transmit power: 1 kW [peak] / 21.31 W [average]

The objective of CPR is to provide information on the vertical structure of
all cloud systems.
ESCAT
Scatterometer on ESA Earth Remote Sensing satellites (ERS-1 and -2)
Launch: 17 July 1991 [ERS-1]; 21 April 1995 [ERS-2]
Orbit: Sun-synchronous orbit (quasi-polar) at 785 km with three possible

repeat cycles: 3-day, 35-day, and 176-day [ERS-1];
Sun-synchronous polar orbit at 780 km and 98.5 inclination with repeat

cycles of 3 days or 35 days [ERS-2]
Polarization: VV
Frequency: 5.3 GHz
Pulse width: 130 sec [fore- and aft-beams]; 70 sec [mid-beam]; 37.2
sec [image/wave mode]
Pulse repetition frequency: 98 Hz [fore- and aft-beams]; 115 Hz [mid-
beam]
Chirp rate: variable, 1.68 kHz typical [image/wave mode]
The Active Microwave Instrument (AMI, a.k.a. ESCAT) is a combination

of a C-band SAR and a wind scatterometer. Its primary geophysical data
products are ocean wind surface speed and direction, ocean wave length
and direction, and high-resolution radar-mapping of land, ocean, ice, and
coastal zones. The ERS-1 payload also included a radar altimeter, an along-
track scanning infrared radiometer, a microwave sounder, and other
measurement equipment.
The ERS-2 satellite is essentially a copy of ERS-1, except that it includes a

number of enhancements; it is also carrying a new payload instrument to
measure the chemical composition of the atmosphere, named GOME
(Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment).
ESMR
Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer on NASA Nimbus-5

Launch: 11 December 1972
Orbit: Sun-synchronus at 1112 km and 81 inclination with a local noon

(ascending) and midnight (descending) equator crossing
Polarization: H
Frequency: 19 GHz
The electrically scanning microwave radiometer (ESMR) was an

instrument carried by the Nimbus-5 satellite, precursor to the scanning
multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) and special sensor
microwave/imager (SSM/I) instruments. However, results are difficult to
compare to SMMR / SSMI. The ESMR scanned along the satellite track,
leading to a wide range of incident angles; SMMR scanned with a constant
angle of 50 degrees, allowing both horizontally and vertically polarized
data to be received; SMMR also had 5 channels instead of one, leading to
improved sea ice retrievals.
ESTAR
Flights: June/July 2002
Polarization: H
RF bandwidth: 20 MHz
The Electronically Steered Thinned Aperture Radiometer (ESTAR) was

deployed during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02) for
estimating surface soil moisture with an L-band radiometer. These data are
not available for distribution because problems with condensation within
the instrument affected performance and quality control. Processing is no
longer being completed. This study was conducted during June and July
2002 in the area of the Ames, Iowa, USA.
These data were collected as part of a validation study for the Advanced
Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E).
AMSR-E is a mission instrument launched aboard NASA's Aqua Satellite
on 04 May 2002. AMSR-E validation studies linked to SMEX are designed
to evaluate the accuracy of AMSR-E soil moisture data. Specific validation
objectives include assessing and refining soil moisture algorithm
performance; verifying soil moisture estimation accuracy; investigating the
effects of vegetation, surface temperature, topography, and soil texture on
soil moisture accuracy; and determining the regions that are useful for
AMSR-E soil moisture measurements.
GMI
Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Microwave Imager on

NASA/JAXA mission
Projected launch: mid-2014
Orbit: Circular orbit at 407 km and 65 inclination
Frequency: 10.7 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, 36.5 GHz, 89 GHz, 165.5
GHz, and 183 GHz
GPM is devoted to determining rainfall over the Earth through the use of a
precipitation radar and radiometer as well as optical instruments. Retrieves
heavy, moderate , and light precipitation (rain water content) using
polarization difference in each channel. Consortium includes CNES, ISRO,
NOAA, and EUMETSAT.
JERS-1 SAR
Japan Earth Resources Satellite-1: Synthetic Aperture Radar
Launch: February 1992
Polarization: single: HH.
Frequency: 1275 MHz
Bandwidth: 15 MHz
Pulse width: 35 sec
Pulse repetition frequency: 1505.8 - 1606.0 Hz

Transmit power: 1.1 - 1.5 kW [peak]
JMR/AMR
JASON/Advanced Microwave Radiometer on CNES/NASA JASON-1,

-2 (OSTM)
Launch: December 2001 [J-1]; June 2008 [OSTM]
Frequency: 18.7 GHz [sea surface winds], 23.8 GHz [water vapor], and 34
GHz [non-raining clouds]
Measures ocean surface height using a radar altimeter. OSTM is the Ocean
Surface Topography Mission also known as JASON-2.
KOMPSAT
SAR instrument on KARI Korea Multi-Putpose Satellite [KOMPSAT-

5] Earth observation mission
Launch: Late 2012
Frequency: 9.66 GHz
KOMPSAT-2 (also referred to as Arirang-2 by South Korea) was

developed by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) to continue the
observation program of the KOMPSAT-1 mission. The main mission
objectives of the KOMPSAT-2 are to provide a surveillance capability for
large-scale disasters by acquiring high-resolution imagery for GIS
(Geographic Information Systems) applications.
MHS
Microwave Humidity Sounder on NOAA-KLMN
First launch: 13 May 1998
Orbit: Sun-synchronous at 833 km
Frequency: 89 GHz, 157 GHz, 183.3 GHz (2), 190.3 GHz
NOAA-K, -L, -M, and -N are a series of low Earth orbiting meteorological
satellites. Observations are sensitive to humidity and also to (a) liquid water
in clouds (cloud liquid water content) and (b) graupel and large water
droplets in precipitating clouds (qualitative estimate of precipitation rate)
MicroWave Radiometer
Argentina's MicroWave Radiometer on SAC-D Satellite
Launch: June 2011
Frequency: 23.8 GHz and 36.5 GHz
1.4 GHz radiometer measurements are complemented by MicroWave

Radiometer (MWR) measuring winds, rainfall, water vapor, and sea ice.
MIRAS
Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis on ESA Soil

Moisture Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS)
Launch: November 2009
Orbit:Sun-synchronous dawn/dusk quasi-circular orbit at 758 km
Polarization: H, V
Frequency: 1.41.427 GHz
Moisture and salinity decrease the emissivity of soil and seawater

respectively, and thereby affect microwave radiation emitted from the
surface of the Earth. L-band provides the maximum sensitivity of the
emissivity to both SM (Soil Moisture) and OS (Ocean Salinity).
The overall objective of MIRAS is to provide records of pixel brightness

temperatures over incidence angles from 0 up to 55 across a 900 km
swath, with a spatial resolution in the range of 30-50 km. From these
profiles and auxiliary information, like surface physical temperature,
roughness and ionospheric total electron content among others, soil
moisture and sea surface salinity will be retrieved.
MTVZA-GY
Microwave Imaging/Sounding Radiometer on Russian METEOR-M

and M1 meterological satellite series
First launch: 17 September 2009
Orbit: Polar orbit at 820 km
Frequency: 10.6 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, 31.5 GHz, 36.5 GHz, 42
GHz, 48 GHz, 52.8 GHz, 55 GHz, 57 GHz, 91.65 GHz, 92 GHz, and 183
GHz
Monitors ocean and land surfaces as well as global atmospheric

temperature and water vapor profiles, and obtains sea surface wind profiles.
Provide low resolution temporal/high resolution spatial sounding of the
temperature and water profiles in the atmosphere.
MWHS
MicroWave Humidity Sounder on Chinese FY-3 (FengYun-3) weather

satellite series
Orbit: Sun-synchronous at 836.4 km, descending node FY-3a 1010, FY-3b

1330 local time
Frequency: 150 GHz, 183.3 GHz

Observes the atmospheric humidity profile, water vapor, rainfall, cloud
liquid water, etc. Measures humidity (water) profile of the atmosphere with
low temporal resolution and high spatial resolution.
MWRI
MicroWave Radiation Imager on Chinese FY-3 (FengYun-3) weather

satellite series

1330 local time
Frequency: 10.65 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, 36.5 GHz, 89 GHz, and 150
GHz
Observes rainfall, soil moisture, cloud liquid water, sea surface parameters.
Measures atmospheric and surface water with low temporal resolution and
high spatial resolution.
MWTS
MicroWave Temperature Sounder on Chinese FY-3 (FengYun-3)

weather satellite series
Launch: 27 May 2008

1330 local time
Frequency: 50.3 GHz, 53.6 GHz, 55 GHz, and 57 GHz
Provides atmospheric temperature profile, rainfall, cloud liquid water,

surface parameters, etc. Measures temperature profile of the atmosphere
with low temporal resolution and high spatial resolution.

NSCAT
NASA Scatterometer on JAXA (Japanese) Advanced Earth Observing

Satellite (ADEOS, a.k.a. Midori)
Launch: 17 August 1996
Orbit: Sun-synchronous sub-recurrent polar orbit at 789805 km and

98.625 inclination with 41 day repeat cycle (3 day subcycle)
Polarization: 6 V, 2 H
Pulse width: 5 ms
Transmit power: 110 W [peak]
NSCAT is a NASA/JPL fan-beam Doppler scatterometer. Objective:

Measurement of surface wind speeds and directions over the global oceans,
coverage every two days under all weather and cloud conditions, using an
array of six antennas that radiate microwave pulses across broad regions of
the Earth's surface. NSCAT is an upgraded version of the Radar
Scatterometer (SASS) on SeaSat.
OSCAT
Scatterometer on ISRO (India) Oceansat-2 mission
Launch: September 2009
Orbit: near polar sun-synchronous orbit at 720 km and 98.28 inclination

with a 2 day repeat
Polarization: Linear HH, VV
RF bandwidth: 0.4 MHz
Pulse width: 1,350 sec

Antenna diameter: 1 m
Ku-band pencil beam scatterometer for oceanographic measurements.

Second in a series of ISRO oceanographic research satellites.
PALS
Passive Active L- and S-band combined polarimetric radiometer and

NASA licensed radar, flown on the NASA P-3 (below) and other
aircraft
Flights: 19992009
Altitude: 1.15 km
Polarization: H, V [radiometer]; HH, VV, HV, VH [radar]
Frequency: 1.41/2.69 GHz [radiometer]; 1.26/3.15 GHz [radar]

PALS was designed and built to investigate the benefits of combining
passive and active microwave sensors for Ocean salinity and Soil moisture
remote sensing. It is the prototype for the Aquarius and SMAP missions
and its flexible design is compatible with many aircraft. It has flown on the
NCAR C-130, NASAs P-3 and Twin Otter Internationals, Twin Otter. It
is a very mature instrument, and has flown more than 800 hours, in support
of NASA campaigns.
PiSAR
NICT (Japanese) airborne L-band Polarimetric and Interferometric

SAR
Flights: 1993present [PiSAR and PiSAR2]
Altitude: 12 km
Polarization: HH, VV, HV
Frequency: 9.55 GHz
RF bandwidth: 100 MHz [PiSAR]; 500/300/150 MHz [PiSAR2]
Transmit power: 7.5 kW [peak H]; 7.0 [peak V]

The effectiveness of Pi-SAR has been demonstrated by covering actual
volcanic eruption and earthquake disaster sites. Using this equipment, areas
of over 10 km wide, flying distances of over 50 km can be observed in a
single pass from an altitude of 12,000 m. The main benefit of SAR imagery
is the fact that the observations are not obstructed by cloud or rain, and can
be made during the night. The development of Pi-SAR2 was started in 2006
to achieve higher performance for practical application during disasters
with sub-meter spatial resolution.
PolSCAT
Airborne Ku-band polarimetric scanning scatterometer with an

approved NASA license, flown on the C-130 (below), and other aircraft
Flights: 19992010
Polarization: HH, VV, HV, VH
PolSCATs flexible design is compatible with many aircraft. It has flown

on the NCAR C-130, NASAs DC-8, P-3, and Twin Otter Internationals,
Twin Otter. Having flown more than 500 hours in support of NASAs Cold
Land Process (CLPX) campaigns, PolSCAT is a very mature instrument.
Precipitation Radar on GPM
Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) dual frequency precipitation

instrument on NASA/JAXA mission (follow-up to TRMM)
Projected launch: mid-2014
Orbit: Circular orbit at 407 km and 65 inclination
Frequency: 13.6 GHz amd 35.56 GHz
Bandwidth: 14 MHz
Pulse repetition frequency: 4206 Hz [Ku-band]; 4275 Hz [Ka-band]
Transmit power: 1 kW (peak) / 140 W (average) [Ku-band]; 6.7 W (peak)

/ 0.94 W (average) [Ka-band]
GPM concept centers on the deployment of a Core satellite carrying an

advanced radar / radiometer system to measure precipitation from space
and serve as a reference standard.
Radar Altimeter on SWOT
Ka-band altimeter on NASA/CNES Surface Water and Ocean

Topography (SWOT) mission
Projected launch: 2020
Orbit: Orbit at 970 km and 78 inclination with 22 day repeat
Polarization: Dual
Frequency: 35.6 GHz

Bandwidth: 200 MHz
Transmit power: 1.5 kW [peak] / 33.66 W [average]
RISAT
SAR on ISRO (India) Radar Satellite-1 (RISAT-1)
Launch: April 2012
Orbit: Polar orbit at 536 km and 97 inclination
Frequency: 5.35 GHz

Chirp rate: 0.9373.75 MHz/sec
Radar Satellite-1 (RISAT-1) carries a SAR Payload operating in C-band

which enables imaging of the surface features.
SAR on Radarsat-1 and -2
Canadian (CSA) satellites using C-band SARs
Launch: November 1995 [R-1]; December 2007 [R-2]
Polarization: Linear HH, VV, HV, VH
Bandwidth: 11.6100 MHz

Pulse width: 21 sec, 42 sec
SASS
SeaSat-A Scatterometer System on NASA SeaSat
Launch: 26 June 1978

Orbit: Non-sun-synchronous near circular polar orbit, at 775799 km and
108 inclination with repeat cycle of 17 days (subcycle of 3 days)
Polarization: V-H, V-H
Transmit duty cycle: Variable
SeaSat (also referred to as SeaSat-A prior to launch and SeaSat-1 after

launch) is a pioneering Earth observation experimental mission of
NASA/JPL; the first ever civilian spaceborne imaging radar instrument
(SAR) was flown on SeaSat in 1978. During its brief 110-day lifetime (end
of mission due to a malfunction), SeaSat collected more information about
the oceans than had been acquired in the previous 100 years of shipboard
research.
SASS was a proof-of-concept experiment for measuring ocean surface

wind vectors under day/night near-all-weather conditions. The physical
basis for this remote sensing technique is the generation of capillary waves
on the ocean surface by the friction velocity of the wind.
SCAMS
Scanning Microwave Spectrometer on NASA Nimbus-6

Orbit: Polar orbit at 10931101 km and 100 inclination
Frequency: 22.235 GHz, 31.65 GHz, 52.85 GHz, 53.85 GHz, and 55.45
GHz
The Nimbus 6 Scanning Microwave Spectrometer (SCAMS) was designed

to map tropospheric temperature profiles, water vapor abundance, and
cloud water content to be used for weather prediction even in the presence
of clouds, which block conventional satellite infrared sensors.
SeaSat
NASA Seafaring Satellite: Synthetic Aperture Radar

Launch: June 1978
Polarization: single: HH.
Frequency: 1275 MHz
Bandwidth: 19 MHz
Seasat was the first satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's
oceans with synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The mission was designed to
demonstrate the feasibility of global satellite monitoring of oceanographic
phenomena and to help determine the requirements for an operational ocean
remote sensing satellite system. Specific objectives were to collect data on
sea-surface winds, sea-surface temperatures, wave heights, internal waves,
atmospheric water, sea ice features and ocean topography. The mission
ended on October 10, 1978 due to a failure of the vehicle's electric power
system. Although only approximately 42 hours of real time data was
received, the mission demonstrated the feasiblity of using microwave
sensors to monitor ocean conditions, and laid the groundwork for future
SAR missions.
SeaWinds
Scatterometer (NSCAT-II) on NASA QuickSCAT satellite
Orbit: Circular sun-synchronous polar orbit at 803 km and 98.6

inclination with a local equator crossing time on the ascending node of 6:00
hours 30 minutes
Polarization: H, V
Frequency: 13.4 GHz
Transmit power: 110 W
SIR-C/X-SAR
Shuttle Imaging Radar with Payload C / X-SAR, a cooperative

NASA/JPL, DARA/DLR, and ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) project
flown on Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch: 9 April 1995 [STS-59 mission]; 30 September 1994 [STS-68
mission]
Orbit: Shuttle circular orbit at 225 km and 57 inclination
Polarization: HH, VV, HV, VH [L-band and C-band]; VV [X-band]
Frequency: 1.250 GHz, 5.3 GHz, and 9.6 GHz
Pulse width: 33.17 or 8.5 sec [L-band and C-band]; 40 sec [X-band]
Transmit power: 4.4 kW [L-band]; 1.2 kW [C-band]; 1.4 kW [X-band]
Objectives include conducting geoscience investigations that require the

observational capabilities of orbiting radar sensors, alone or in conjunction
with other sensors, that will lead to a better understanding of the surface
conditions and processes on the Earth; Exploring regions of the Earth's
surface that are not well characterized because of vegetation, cloud, or
sediment cover in order to better understand land and ocean surface
conditions and processes on a global scale; and incorporating this new
knowledge into global models of surface and subsurface processes.
SIRAL
SAR Interferometer Radar Altimeter on ESA CryoSat

Launch: 8 October 2005
Orbit: Non sun-synchronous circular LEO orbit at 717 km and 92

inclination with 369 day ground track repeat cycle (30 day pseudo
subcycles).
Polarization:
RF bandwidth: 320 MHz
Pulse width: 50 sec
Pulse repetition frequency: 1.97 kHz [LRM]; 17.8 kHz [SAR and SARIn]
Antenna size: 2 reflectors each 1.2 1.1 m
CryoSat is the first Earth Explorer Opportunity Mission in ESA's Living

Planet Program; it is a next-generation radar altimetry mission dedicated to
observations of the polar regions. The science objectives are to determine
variations in the thickness of Arctic sea ice and elevation changes of ice
sheets, ice caps and glaciers that ring the Arctic Ocean (continental ice
sheets).
SMAP
L-band Scatterometer on NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)

mission
Projected Launch:
Polarization: Dual, Linear H & V
Frequency: 1215-1300 MHz
RF bandwidth: 1 MHz
Pulse width: 15 sec
Transmit power: 200 W [Peak] / 28 W [Average]

SMAP will utilize a frequency hopping scheme to mitigate interference

to/from terrestrial radars operating in this band.
SMMR (SeaSat); SMMR (Nimbus-7)
Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer on NASA/JPL SeaSat

and Nimbus-7 Satellites
Launch: 26 June 1978 [SeaSat]; 24 October 1994 [Nimbus-7]
Orbit: Non-sun-synchronous near circular polar orbit, at 775799 km and

108 inclination with repeat cycle of 17 days (subcycle of 3 days) [SeaSat];
Sun-synchronous polar orbit at 941954 km and 99.15 inclination with

local equator crossing time on the ascending node at 12:00 hours (and
midnight descending) [Nimbus-7]
Polarization: H, V
Frequency: 6.6 GHz, 10.69 GHz, 18 GHz, 21 GHz, and 37 GHz
SeaSat (also referred to as SeaSat-A prior to launch and SeaSat-1 after

launch) is a pioneering Earth observation experimental mission of
NASA/JPL; the first ever civilian spaceborne imaging radar instrument
(SAR) was flown on SeaSat in 1978. During its brief 110-day lifetime (end
of mission due to a malfunction), SeaSat collected more information about
the oceans than had been acquired in the previous 100 years of shipboard
research.
The SMMR is a five-frequency instrument designed and built at JPL.

Objectives: Monitoring sea surface temperatures, wind speeds, rain rate,
atmospheric water content (mapping of columnar water vapor distribution
over the global oceans) and ice conditions
Nimbus is a NASA meteorological research-and-development satellite

program (parallel to the operational TIROS program) which started in 1963
with the prime objective to test new instrument concepts (introduction of
sensor technology), a secondary objective was to provide atmospheric data
for improved weather forecasts.
SSALT
Sea Surface Altimeter on NASA/CNES JASON-1, -2 (OSTM)

Launch: December 2001 [J-1]; June 2008 [OSTM]
Polarization: Linear
Frequency: 5.3 GHz and 13.575 GHz
Bandwidth: 100/320 MHz [C-bnad]; 320 MHz [Ku-band]
Transmit power: 16 W, 7 W [peak] / 3.9 W, 1.7 W [average]

Chirp rate: 0.9 MHz/sec, 3.0 MHz/sec
This mission obtains measurements of ocean surface height using radar

altimeter. OSTM is the Ocean Surface Topography Mission also known as
JASON-2.
SSM/I
Special Sensor Microwave Imager on Defense Meteorological Satellite

Program (DMSP)
First launch: 12 December 1999
Orbits: Sun-synchronous orbits at 811 - 853 km, normally two in operation

at any time (one morning and one late morning equatorial crossing time)
Frequency: 19.35 GHz (2), 22.24 GHz, 37 GHz (2), 85 GHz (2)
Provides low-resolution-temporal/high-resolution-spatial sounding of the

atmosphere and surface. Measures sea surface winds, rain rates, cloud
water, precipitation, soil moisture, ice edge, and ice chronological age.
TanDEM-X
TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement
Frequency: 9.65 GHz
Bandwidth: 150 MHz, 300 MHz
Pulse width: 47 sec
This mission flies near TerraSAR-X to perform interferometric SAR

(InSAR) observations.
TecSAR
X-band SAR ISA (Israel) Technology Demonstration Mission

Launch: January 2008
Orbit: Orbit at 450-580 km and 41 inclination
Frequency: 9.6 GHz
Bandwidth: 200 MHz
TecSAR is the first spaceborne radar minisatellite technology

demonstration mission of Israel's MoD (Ministry of Defense), designed and
developed by IAI/MBT (Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.) formerly known
as Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., a government owned company. The prime
objective is to provide high-resolution SAR imagery, day and night, in all
weather conditions, at an affordable cost.
TerraSAR-X
X-band SAR on DLR (German) TerraSAR-X active sensing mission

Launch: June 2007
Frequency: 9.65 GHz
Bandwidth: 150 MHz, 300 MHz
Pulse width: 47 sec
This mission employs an active phased array antenna SAR with ~1 m

resolution capability.
TMI
TRMM Microwave Imager on NASA/JAXA Joint Tropical Rainfall

Measurement Mission (TRMM)
Orbit: Circular orbit at 350 km and 35 inclination with 23 day repeat;

Equatorial orbit to observe topics and subtropics only.
Frequency: 10.7 Ghz, 19.4 Ghz, 21.3 Ghz. 37 Ghz, and 85.5 Ghz
Determines rainfall in the tropics and subtropics by using a precipitation

radar and microwave radiometer as well as optical instruments.
TRMM-PR
Precipitation Radar on NASA/JAXA Joint Tropical Rainfall
Measurement Mission (TRMM)
Orbit: Circular orbit at 350 km and 35 inclination with 23 day repeat;

Equatorial orbit to observe topics and subtropics only.
Polarization: Linear H
Frequency: 13.796 GHz, 13.802 GHz
Pulse width: 2 1.60 sec
Pulse repetition frequency: 2.776 kHz
Transmit power: 578 W [peak] / 2.57 W [average]
TRMM is devoted to determining rainfall in the tropics and subtropics of

the Earth through the use of a precipitation radar and radiometer as well as
optical instruments.
UAVSAR
NASA L-band Airborne SAR
Start date: January 2007
Altitude: 218 km
Polarization: HH, VV, HV, VH
Transmit power: 1.6 kW [peak] / 70.4 W [average]
Chirp rate: 215 MHz/sec
Transmit duty cycle: 0.14.4%

The purpose of this mission is to develop a miniaturized polarimetric L-
band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for use on an unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) or minimally piloted vehicle. Flies periodically over US and Arctic
areas.
WindSat
WindSat Radiometer on NASA/NRL/NOAA Coriolis Satellite
Launch: 6 January 2003
Orbit: Sunsynchronous orbit at 840 km, local time of ascending node is

1800
Frequency: 6.8 GHz, 10.7 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, and 37 GHz
Operational verification of spaceborne multichannel polarimetric
radiometry as a means to measure the ocean surface wind vector (speed and
direction)

Microwave Sensors List 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Microwave Sensors List 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Satellite and Airborne Microwave Sensors

(some of the slides are courtesy of Mr. Tom vanDeak of NASA)

NASA P-band Airborne SAR (modified UAVSAR)

Start date: June 2012

Frequency: 430 MHz

Pulse width: 40 sec

Pulse repetition frequency: 1200 Hz

Transmit power: 2 kW [peak] / 96 W [average]

Transmit duty cycle: 4.8%

JAXA Advanced Land Observing Satellite-1: Phased Array L-band

Launch: January 2006

Polarization: single: HH or VV, dual: HH+HV or VV+VH, or polarimetric

Frequency: 1270 MHz

Pulse repetition frequency: 1500 to 2500 Hz

Transmit power: 2 kW [peak]

Transmit duty cycle: 12 min/orbit

JAXA Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2: Phased Array L-band

Orbit: Polar orbit at 628 km 97.9 inclination with 14 day repeat

Polarization: single: HH or VV, dual: HH+HV or VV+VH, or polarimetric

Frequency: 1236.5 / 1257.5 / 1278.5 MHz (selectable)

Pulse repetition frequency: 1500 to 3000 Hz

Transmit power: 3.3 or 6.1 kW [peak]

Altimeter and Scatterometer on HY2A

Dual-band (C- and Ku-) radar altimeter and Ku-band scatterometer

Launch: August 2011

Polarization: Linear VV [altimeter]; Linear HH and VV [scatterometer]

Frequency: 5.25 GHz, 13.58 GHz [altimeter]; 13.2555 GHz

Bandwidth: 160 MHz (C-band), 20 MHz, 80 MHz, 320 MHz (Ku-band)

Pulse width: 102 sec [altimeter]; 6501200 sec [scatterometer]

Transmit power: 20 W (peak) / 8.2 W (average) [altimeter]; 120 W (peak)

Chirp rate: 1.56 MHz/sec, 0.2 MHz/sec, 0.78 MHz/sec, 3.12

Transmit duty cycle: 40.96% [altimeter]; 24% [scatterometer]

HY-2 is a second generation ocean observation/monitoring satellite series

Advanced Microwave Radiometer on NASA/CNES Surface Water and

Orbit: Orbit at 970 km and 78 inclination with 22 day repeat

Frequency: 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, and 34 GHz

SWOT satellite mission and its wide-swath altimetry technology are a

Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit on NASA's AQUA

Orbit: Sun-synchronous at 705 km, ascending node crossing at 1330 with a

AMSU Provides vertical temperature profiles up to 50 km; Window

Integrated L-band radiometers and scatterometer on NASA/CONAE

Orbit: Polar orbit at 657 km and 98 inclination with 7 day repeat

Polarization: Linear H and V

Frequency: 1.42 GHz

Measures the microwave brightness temperatures of the ocean surface,

NASA Mission Flying on Argentina SAC-D Satellite

Launch: June 2011

Orbit: Polar orbit at 657 km and 98 inclination with 7 day repeat

Polarization: Linear H and V

Frequency: 1.26 GHz

Pulse width: 1000 sec

Pulse repetition frequency: 100 Hz

Transmit power: 200 W [peak] / 20 W [average]

Transmit duty cycle: 10%

Three beam scatterometer system which complements radiometer

Advanced SAR on ESA Environmental Satellite (EnviSat)

Launch: 1 March 2005

Orbit: Near-circular sun-synchronous orbit at 800 km and 98.55

Polarization: HH, VV, VV/HH, HV/HH, VH/VV

Frequency: 5.331 GHz

Transmit power: 6471395 W [mode-dependent]

Transmit duty cycle: 43%

The main objective of ASAR is to provide information on: ocean waves,

Important applications by ASAR to the global mission include: Measuring