BackForwardInstrument:  SWIM 

Instrument details
Acronym SWIM
Full name Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring instrument.
Purpose Wave spectra (power distribution, function of direction and wavelength/period); and significant wave height (at nadir).
Short description

Multi-beam altimeter, Ku-band (13.575 GHz), rotating to implement large swath
Background

New development
Scanning Technique

6 beams, incidence angles 0°, 2.4°, 4°, 6°, 8° and 10°, rotating at 5.7 rpm, implementing a swath of 180 km.
Resolution 18 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global in one weak.
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CNES
Instrument Maturity
Utilization Period: 2019 to 2038
Last update: 2024-11-16
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
  • Radar altimeter
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Wide-swath radar altimeters, and high altitude, inclined, high-precision orbit altimeters
  • Wide-swath radar altimeter
  • Subcomponent 3
  • Radar and lidar for vegetation mapping
  • Wide-swath radar altimeter for vegetation mapping
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Sea-ice elevation
  • Sea-ice thickness
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
Coastal sea level (tide)1 - primaryInfrequent coverage.Single-frequency Ku-band radar altimeter with large swath for mapping
Geoid2 - very highInfrequent coverage.. Long time series needed.Geoid derived from multi-temporal analysis of radar altimetry data
Gravity field4 - fairPartial information (geoid).Gravity field derived from multi-temporal analysis of radar altimetry data
Ocean dynamic topography1 - primaryInfrequent coverage.. Long time for mapping.Single-frequency Ku-band radar altimeter with large swath for mapping
Sea-ice elevation*3 - highInfrequent coverage.The large swath helps measuring the elevation of the ice border over the sea level
Sea-ice thickness*3 - highInfrequent coverage.. Change detection only.The large swath helps measuring the elevation of the ice border over the sea level. Thickness inferred
Significant wave height1 - primaryInfrequent coverage.The large swath enables more frequent global coverage
Wind speed (near surface)4 - fairOver sea only.. Infrequent coverage.Improved coverage associated to better resolution, that implies better accuracy