BackForwardInstrument:  L band SAR (Ludi-Tance) 

Instrument details
Acronym L band SAR (Ludi-Tance)
Full name L-band differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar
Purpose To measure land resources, earthquakes, disaster prevention and mitigation, surveying and mapping, forestry, etc.
Short description L-band multi-channel Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operating around 1-2 GHz. Antenna exceeds 33 square meters.
Background New development
Scanning Technique 400 km swath.
Resolution 3 metres from LEO orbit 20 metres from Geosynchronous orbit
Coverage / Cycle 8 day repeat for a single satellite for 8 days and 4 day repeat for 2 satellites. More frequent on geosynchronous satellite.
Mass 3200 kg Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CNSA
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 2022 to 2040
Last update: 2023-08-21
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Active and radio-occultation sensor
  • Imaging radar (SAR)
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • SAR imagers and altimeters
  • SAR imager
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Land cover
  • Land surface topography
  • Sea-ice cover
  • Sea-ice elevation
  • Soil type
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Biomass2 - very highIndex only.. Infrequent coverage.L-band sensitive to total biomass
Dominant wave direction5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Dominant wave period5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Fire fractional cover3 - highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Glacier cover1 - primaryLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Glacier topography2 - very highLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography2 - very highLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Land surface topography*2 - very highLong time for mapping.L-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Oil spill cover2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR
Sea-ice cover*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness5 - marginalChange detection only.L-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Sea-ice type3 - highNo specific limitation.L-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
Significant wave height5 - marginalHighly indirect.. Infrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Retrieved by spectral analysis of "imagettes". Boundary condition necessary for the retrieval
Snow water equivalent4 - fairChange detection only.. Infrequent coverage.L-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture (in the roots region)2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR
Soil moisture at surface2 - very highInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR
Soil type*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Vegetation type5 - marginalNo specific limitation.L-band SAR
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.L-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"