RA, RA-2

Radar Altimeter

Satellites

ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat

Status

Operational – Utilised in the period 1991 to ~ 2013

Mission

Ocean topography, significant wave height, wind speed on sea surface

Instrument type

Radar altimeter: RA-2 two-frequencies (3.2 and 13.6 GHz), ERS-1/2 RA single frequency (13.8 GHz)

Scanning technique

Nadir-only viewing, continuous sampling along track

Coverage/cycle

Global coverage in 1 month for 30 km average spacing, or in 10 days for 100 km average spacing

Resolution

20 km IFOV

Resources

Mass: 110 kg - Power: 161 W - Data rate: 100 kbps