PALSAR

Phased-Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar

Satellite

ALOS

Status

Operational – Utilised in the period 2006 to ~ 2010

Mission

High-resolution all-weather soil moisture and ocean surface features observation

Instrument type

L-band SAR, frequency 1.27 GHz, multi-polarisation and variable pointing/resolution

Scanning technique

Side-looking, 10-51° off-nadir, swath 40 to 350 km, depending on operation mode – See table

Coverage/cycle

Global coverage in minimum 2 weeks, depending on operation mode (duty cycle 17.5 min/orbit)

Resolution

7 to 100 m, depending on operation mode – See table

Resources

Mass: … kg - Power: … W - Data rate: 240 Mbps

Operation mode

Resolution

Swath

Polarisation

Incidence angle

Highest resolution

7-44 m

40-70 km

HH or VV

8-60°

High resolution

14-89 m

40-70 km

HH/HV or VV/VH

8-60°

ScanSAR

100 m

250-350 km

HH or VV

18-43°

Polarimetry

24-89 m

30 km

HH/HV + VV/VH

8-30°