ERS-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Fast Delivery Processor

The ESA ground station facility at Kiruna, Sweden will be responsible for the reception of ERS-1 data and its processing into fast delivery products. Due to its high latitude, Kiruna can receive data from 10 of 14 passes per day, making its processing throughput requirements among the highest in the ERS-1 network. This paper discusses the SAR processor system at Kiruna responsible for part of this product generation. A description of the ground station environment is presented as the context in which the processor must operate. The processor requirements are then discussed followed by descriptions of the hardware and software components.