Platforms>Space Stations/Manned Spacecraft
|
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) Imagary from NASA/JPL Entry ID: SIRC_XSAR |
||||||||
|
[
Get Data
]
[
Update this Record
]
|
Summary
|
Abstract:
The Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1) was a payload launched with the Space Shuttle &Endeavor& (STS-59) on April 9, 1994. The SRL-1 comprises two elements: a suite of radar instruments called the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR), and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellite (MAPS) instrument. The SIR-C/X-SAR radar was jointly developed by NASA with DARA of Germany and ASI of Italy. The SIR-C/X-SAR instrument consists of 3 bands: C-Band (0.235 m), L-Band (0.058 m), and X-Band (0.031 m). Typical resoultion was 30 x 30 meters. The Space Radar Laboratory-2 (SRL-2) was launched with the Space Shuttle &Endeavor& (STS-68) on September 30, 1994. As with SRL-1, SRL-2 consists of the SIR-C/X-SAR radar instruments and the MAPS instrument. Images obtained from the SIR-C/X-SAR are available from the NASA JPL Imaging Radar Page: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar/ and http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/ The objectives of the SIR-C/X-SAR were to provide information about the Earth's land surfaces including vegetation coverage, snow pack extent, wetlands, geologic features, volcanic processes, ocean wave heights and wind speeds over the oceans. The most useful feature of imaging radar is its ability to make measurements over any region at any time regardless of weather or sunlight. The SIR-C/X-SAR is a synthetic aperture radar that transmits pulses of microwave energy from the Shuttle toward Earth and measures the strength and time delay of the energy scattered back to the SIR-C/X-SAR antenna. The motion of the Shuttle between the transmission of the beam and the reception of the backscattered radiation is used to &synthesize& or create an antenna (aperture) much longer than the actual antenna. This results in finer resolution images. The SIR-C/X-SAR scientific team has identified more than 400 sites where data was taken. Nineteen of the sites are designated &supersites&, making them priority targets for scientific investigations. There are an additional 15 backup supersites. The supersites were chosen to represent different environments within each scientific discipline. The following are areas of investigation and supersites for the SRL mission: * Ecology: Manaus, Brazil; Raco Mich.; Duke Forest, N.C.; Central Europe. Radar images will be used to study land use, vegetation extent, effects of fires, floods, and clear-cutting, soil moisture, forest dynamics. * Hydrology: Chickasha, OK; Otztal, Austria; Bebedouro, Brazil; Montespertoli, Italy Radar images will be used to study snow cover, wetlands, and soil moisture patterns. * Oceanography: Gulf Stream, Northeast Atlantic Ocean; Southern Ocean Radar images to study surface and internal waves, oceanic wind speed, and currents. * Geology: Galapagos Islands; Sahara Desert; Death Valley, CA; Andes Mountains, Chile; Mount Pinatubo Radar imagery to map geologic structures, areas of erosion and volcanic activity, paleoclimatic sites in arid regions, geologic evidence of past climate changes, surface roughness. |
Related URL
|
Link:
GET DATA
Description: SIR-C radar data sets |
Geographic Coverage
| N: 70.0 | S: -70.0 | E: 180.0 | W: -180.0 |
|
Data Set Citation
|
Dataset Originator/Creator:
NASA/JPL
Dataset Title: Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) Imagary from NASA/JPL Online Resource: http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/ |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date: 1994-04-09 |
| Stop Date: 1994-04-20 |
| Start Date: 1994-09-20 |
| Stop Date: 1994-10-11 |
Location Keywords
|
GEOGRAPHIC REGION
> GLOBAL
|
Science Keywords
| SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING >RADAR >RADAR IMAGERY [Definition] |
ISO Topic Category
|
IMAGERY/BASE MAPS/EARTH COVER
|
Platform
| SPACE SHUTTLES [Information] |
| SRL-1 >Space Radar Laboratory-1 [Information] |
| SRL-2 >Space Radar Laboratory-2 [Information] |
| STS-59 >Space Transport System STS-59 [Information] |
| STS-68 >Space Transport System STS-68 [Information] |
Instrument
| SAR >Synthetic Aperture Radar [Information] |
| SIR-C >Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C [Information] |
| X-SAR >X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar [Information] |
Keywords
| BIOMASS |
| IMAGES |
| LAND COVER |
| RADAR |
| VEGETATION |
Originating Center
| JPL |
Data Center
|
Radar Data and Outreach Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
[Information]
Data Center URL: http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/
| |||
Distribution
|
Distribution_Media:
on-line
|
Personnel
|
GENE
R.
MAJOR Role: DIF AUTHOR Email: gsfc-gcmduso at mail.nasa.gov |
Creation and Review Dates
Last DIF Revision Date:
2008-06-02
| [ Update this Record ] |
