Imaging Radars
type: Concept

X-SAR
change note: 2019-04-26 12:11:52.0 [mmorahan] insert WeightedRelation (id: null related concept uuid: 42c6ff80-849b-4ef5-b6ff-fd9416b8cf33 relationship type: null relationship value: null generated by: null);
change note: 2019-02-22 16:54:05.0 [mmorahan] insert WeightedRelation (id: null related concept uuid: a5c7a4c7-bbf4-42df-a754-20cb6b98317a relationship type: null relationship value: null generated by: null);
in scheme: instruments
definition: The objectives of the X-band Synthetic Aperature Radar (X-SAR) are to provide all-weather monitoring of Earth's land and ocean surface to provide data for studies of (1) vegetation extent and biomass condition, (2) soil moisture and snow properties, (3) recent climate change and tectonic activity, and (4) ocean wave spectra. The X-SAR is designed to be operated in conjunction with the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) on the same platform. The X-SAR, designed and built by the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR) and sponsored by the German and Italian governments, will operate at X-band (3.1-cm wavelength or 9600 MHz) with VV polarization. The swath width is from 10 to 45 km at 25-km resolution with illumination angle of 15 to 60 degrees off-nadir. The X-SAR antenna has a fixed beamwidth of 5.8 degrees in elevation and 0.13 degrees in azimuth as opposed to the phased array, multi-polarization antenna of SIR-C. The X-SAR was flown on the Shuttle STS-59 in April 1994 and the STS-68 in September/October 1994. See Jordan,R.L.,B.L.Huneycutt,and M.Werner,"The SIR-C/X-SAR Synthetic Aperature Radar System",Vol.79,No.6,June 1991. For more information on SIR-C/XSAR including online images see the URL: "http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/sircxsar/"
type: Concept