Title :
The RADARSAT-2/3 topographic mission
Author :
Lee, Pok F. ; James, Kenneth
Author_Institution :
MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd., Richmond, BC, Canada
Abstract :
The RADARSAT-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite currently under development is jointly funded by the Canadian government and MacDonald Dettwiler. RADARSAT-2 will further Canada\´s world-leading position in the world of synthetic aperture radar Earth observation, and provide an enormous opportunity for growth in technical expertise and environmental, agricultural, and commercial applications. Plans are now in preparation for the development of a RADARSAT-3 satellite to be operated interferometrically in tandem with RADARSAT-2 to provide very high precision global topographical data. This paper will describe the mission concept, explain the key characteristics of the two satellites, and discuss some of the design and operational issues which have been studied The system concept potentially includes both Bistatic and "Pursuit Monostatic" operation of the two radars, and both options will be described
Keywords :
geophysical equipment; geophysical techniques; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; terrain mapping; topography (Earth); Canada; MacDonald Dettwiler; RADARSAT; RADARSAT-2; RADARSAT-3; SAR; Topographic Mission; bistatic; geophysical measurement technique; land surface topography; mission concept; pursuit monostatic; radar remote sensing; satellite instrument; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; terrain mapping; Business; Earth; Government; Image resolution; Interferometry; Postal services; Read only memory; Satellites; Space vehicles; Synthetic aperture radar;
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2001. IGARSS '01. IEEE 2001 International
Conference_Location :
Sydney, NSW
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7031-7
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.2001.976202
