ALOS Highlights

Launch Date : 24 Jan 2006
Altitude : 700 km
Cycle : 46 Days
Status : Out of Service 22 April 2011
Website :
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/alos/index_e.html

Detailed Summary

Japan launched ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) in January 2006, aboard an H2-A rocket. The 4000-kilogram satellite, renamed Daichi, was placed in a near-polar orbit. ALOS remote-sensing equipment enables precise land coverage observation and can collect enough data by itself for mapping on a scale of 25,000:1, without relying on points of reference on the ground. Some of its objectives are cartography, disaster monitoring, natural resource surveys and technology development.

ALOS Data

ALOS PALSAR data are available from the SDC for US researchers with an approved ALOS PALSAR Proposal. ALOS PALSAR at the SDC is focused on North, South and Central America but global data are available.

PALSAR data are available as:

• Level 1.0: Reconstructed, unprocessed signal data with radiometric- and geometric-correction coefficients appended but not applied.
• Level 1.1: Single Look Complex products provided in slant range geometry and compressed in range and azimuth. Individual files are provided for each polarization for multi-polarization modes.
• Level 1.5: Multi-look processed images projected onto map coordinates. Data can be processed either geo-referenced or geo-coded. Individual files are provided for each polarization for multi-polarization modes.

PALSAR data are provided in CEOS format. More detailed product descriptions are available from the JAXA website.

ERS-1 Highlights

Launch Date : 17 July 1991
Altitude : 785 km
Cycle : 35 Days
Status : Out of Service March 2000
Website :
http://earth.esa.int/ers/

Detailed Summary

ERS-1 (European Remote Sensing) was a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite for remote sensing from a polar orbit. The 2400 kilogram satellite was inserted into a sun-synchronous polar orbit by an Ariane 4 launcher. The primary mission of ERS-1 was to perform remote sensing of the Earth's oceans, ice caps, and coastal regions.

The satellite provided systematic, repetitive global measurements of wind speed and direction, wave height, surface temperatures, surface altitude, cloud cover, and atmospheric water vapor levels.

ERS-1 Data

Archived ERS-1 SAR data are available from the ASF SAR Data center for the regions covered by the ASF STGS station mask and the McMurdo station mask. Anyone may search the SDC archive using the URSA interface. However, ERS-1 data are considered restricted data and a short proposal is required to receive the data.

ERS-1 data are available at three different processing levels.

• Level Zero: Raw signal data that requires SAR processing before it can be visualized. Data can be received as a swath product in SKY telemetry format or subdivided into frames with an accompanying CEOS format leader file.
• Single Look Complex (SLC): Processed SAR data that contains both amplitude and phase information. The data is not multilooked and to be visualized must be further processed to an amplitude image.
• Detected Image: Fully processed SAR data which only contains the amplitude information. Image does not require any further SAR processing to be visualized.

ERS-2 Highlights

Launch Date : 20 April 1995
Altitude : 783 km
Cycle : 35 days
Status : Out of Service 4 July 2011
Website :
http://earth.esa.int/ers/

Detailed Summary

ERS-2 (European Remote Sensing) is a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite for remote sensing from a polar orbit. The 2500 kilogram satellite provides global and repetitive observations of the environment using techniques which allow imaging in all weather conditions. The ERS-2 satellite is essentially the same as ERS-1 except that it includes a number of enhancements and it is carrying a new payload instrument to measure the chemical composition of the atmosphere, named the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME).

ERS-2 Data

Archived ERS-2 SAR data are available from the ASF SAR Data center for the regions covered by the ASF STGS station mask and the McMurdo station mask. Anyone may search the SDC archive using the URSA interface. However, ERS-2 data are considered restricted data and a short proposal is required to receive the data.

ERS-2 data are available at three different processing levels.

• Level Zero: Raw signal data that requires SAR processing before it can be visualized. Data can be received as a swath product in SKY telemetry format or subdivided into frames with an accompanying CEOS format leader file.
• Single Look Complex (SLC): Processed SAR data that contains both amplitude and phase information. The data is not multilooked and to be visualized must be further processed to an amplitude image.
• Detected Image: Fully processed SAR data which only contains the amplitude information. Image does not require any further SAR processing to be visualized.

JERS-1 Highlights

Launch Date : 11 Feb 1992
Altitude : 565-580 km
Cycle : 44 days
Status : Out of Service Oct 1998
Website :
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/JERS-1/en/index.html

Detailed Summary

JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite) was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aboard a Japanese H-1 launcher, to provide global and repetitive observations of the environment using techniques which allow imaging to take place in all weather conditions. Its primary objective was gathering data on global land masses while conducting observation for land surveys, agricultural-forestry-fisheries, environmental protection, disaster prevention and coastal surveillance.

JERS-1 Data

Archived JERS-1 SAR data are available from the ASF SAR Data and coverage is global. Anyone may search the SDC archive using the URSA interface. However, JERS-1 data are considered restricted data and a short proposal is required to receive the data.

JERS-1 data are available at three different processing levels.

• Level Zero: Raw signal data that requires SAR processing before it can be visualized. Data can be received as a swath product in SKY telemetry format or subdivided into frames with an accompanying CEOS format leader file.
• Single Look Complex (SLC): Processed SAR data that contains both amplitude and phase information. The data is not multilooked and to be visualized must be further processed to an amplitude image.
• Detected Image: Fully processed SAR data which only contains the amplitude information. Image does not require any further SAR processing to be visualized.

RADARSAT-1 Highlights

Launch Date : 4 Nov 1995
Altitude : 798 km (793-821 km)
Cycle : 24 Days (343 orbits)
Status : Out of Service 29 March 2013 (SDC archive ends May 2008)
Website :
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/radarsat1/

Detailed Summary

RADARSAT-1 is an advanced Earth observation satellite developed by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to monitor environmental change and to support resource sustainability. NASA launched RADARSAT-1 aboard a Delta-II rocket in exchange for access to the satellite on a pro rata basis through the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF).

At the heart of RADARSAT-1 is an advanced radar sensor called Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). SAR is a microwave instrument, which sends pulsed signals to the Earth and processes the received reflected pulses. SAR operates day or night, regardless of weather conditions. RADARSAT-1 was placed into a sun-synchronous polar orbit in order to provide global coverage. Research emphasis will be on the Polar Regions, though onboard tape recorders will allow imaging of any region, worldwide.

RADARSAT-1 Data

RADARSAT-1 data at the SDC is global in nature but only includes data acquired prior to May 3, 2008. Anyone may search the SDC archive using the URSA interface for RADARSAT-1 data. However, most RADARSAT-1 data considered restricted and a short proposal is required to access the data.

RADARSAT-1 data are available at three different processing levels.

• Level Zero: Raw signal data that requires SAR processing before it can be visualized. Data can be received as a swath product in SKY telemetry format or subdivided into frames with an accompanying CEOS format leader file.
• Single Look Complex (SLC): Processed SAR data that contains both amplitude and phase information. The data is not multilooked and to be visualized must be further processed to an amplitude image.
• Detected Image: Fully processed SAR data which only contains the amplitude information. Image does not require any further SAR processing to be visualized.