CoRe-H2O - A dual frequency SAR mission for hydrology and climate research

Taking into account the needs for improved, spatially detailed observations of snow and ice in climate research, hydrology, and glaciology, the satellite mission COld REgions Hydrology High-resolution Observatory, CoRe-H₂O, was proposed to ESA. As payload a co- and cross-polarized Ku-band (17.2 GHz) and X-band (9.6 GHz) SAR was selected, because of its sensitivity to dry snow, thin sea ice, and the metamorphic state of snow, firn and ice on glaciers and ice caps. A cost-effective ScanSAR scheme with parabolic reflectors (each with multiple beams) is proposed fulfilling the requirements for swath width, spatial resolution and radiometry. The mission has been selected by ESA for further scientific and technical studies in the frame of the Earth Explorer Satellite Programme.