ONE PAGER SERIES

SAR Data Access

A quick reference to Synthetic Aperture Radar collecting-
missions and where to obtain data. For more information,
check out the SAR Handbook: Comprehensive Methodologies

& Availability for Forest Monitoring and Biomass Estimation and

associated training materials at SERVIRglobal.net

WAVELENGTH/
EXISTING DATA

SENSOR LIFETIME POLARIZATION RESOLUTION FRAME SIZE REPEAT CYCLE ACCESS

FREQUENCY
L-band Az: 25m
Seasat 1978 HH 100km - Free & open
λ = 24.6cm Rg: 25m

C-band AZ: 6-30m

ERS-1 1991-2001 VV 100km 35 days Restrained
λ = 05.6cm RG: 26m

L-band Az: 18m

JERS-1 1995-1998 HH 75km 44 days Restrained
λ = 24.6cm Rg: 18m

C-band Az: 6-30m

ERS-2 1995-2011 VV 100km 35 days Restrained
λ = 05.6cm Rg: 26m

C-band HH, VV, VV/HH, Az: 28m

ENVISAT 2002-2012 100km 35 days Restrained
λ = 05.6cm HH/HV, VV/VH Rg: 28m

FBS: HH, VV
FBS: 10x10m FBS: 70km
FBD: HH/HV, HH/VH
L-band FBD: 20x10m FBD: 70km
ALOS-1 2006-2011 PLR: HH/HV 46 days Free & open
λ = 24.6cm PLR: 30x10m PLR: 30km
/VH /VV
ScanSAR: 100m ScanSAR: 250-350km
ScanSAR: HH, VV
Standard: 25x28m Standard: 100km
1995-2008:
Fine: 9x9m Fine: 45km
C-band Restrained
Radarsat-1 1995-2013 HH Wide1: 35x28m Wide1: 165km 24 days
λ = 05.6cm 2008-2013:
Wide2: 35x28m Wide2:150km
Commercial
ScanSAR: 50x50-100x100m ScarSAR: 305-510km
Application-
Single: HH, VV Spotlight: 3-10km
X-band Spotlight: 0.2x1.0-1.7x3.5m dependent;
TerraSAR-X 2007- Dual: HH/VV, HH/HV, VV/VH Stripmap: 50x30km
λ = 03.5cm Stripmap: 3x3m 11 days restrained
TanDEM-X 2010- Twin: HH/VV, HH/VH, ScanSAR: 150x100-
ScanSAR: 18-40m scientific,
VV/VH 200x200km
commercial
Spotlight: 18x8km
Single: HH, VV, HV, VH Spotlight: ~1.5m
C-band Stripmap: 20-170m
Radarsat-2 2007- Dual: HH/HV, VV/VH Stripmap: ~3x3-25x25m 24 days Commercial
λ = 05.6cm ScanSAR: 300x300-
Quad: HH/HV/VH/VV ScanSAR: 35x35-100x100m
500x500km
Spotlight: 10x10km
Spotlight: ≤1m Commercial;
COSMO- X-band Single: HH, VV, HV, VH Stripmap: 40x40km Satellite: 16 days
2007- Stripmap: 3-15m limited proposal-
SkyMed λ = 03.5cm Dual: HH/HV, HH/VV, VV/VH ScanSAR: 100x100 - Constellation: ~hrs
ScanSAR: 30-100m based scientific
200x200km
Spotlight: 25x25km
Single: HH, VV, HV, VH Spotlight: 1x3m Commercial;
ALOS-2 L-band Stripmap: 55x70-
2014- Dual: HH/HV, VV/VH Stripmap: 3-10m 14 days limited proposal-
PALSAR-2 λ = 24.6cm 70x70km
Quad: HH/HV/VH/VV ScanSAR: 25-100m based scientific
ScanSAR: 355x355km
Stripmap: 5x5m
Interferometric Wide Swath Stripmap: 375km Satellite: 12 days
C-band Single: HH, VV
Sentinel-1 2014- (IW): 5x20m IW: 250km Constellation: Free & open
λ = 05.6cm Dual: HH/HV, VV/VH
Extra Wide Swath (EW): EW: 400km 6 days
20-40m
Single: HH, VV Satellite: 16 days
L-band Stripmap: 10x10m Stripmap: >65km
SAOCOM 2018- Dual: HH/HV, VV/VH Constellation: TBD
λ = 24.6cm TopSAR: 100x100m TopSAR: 320km
Quad: HH/HV/VH/VV 8 days

X-band *See TerraSAR/ *See TerraSAR/ *See TerraSAR/

PAZ SAR 2018- 11 days Commercial
λ = 03.5cm TanDEM-x TanDEM-x TanDEM-x
 EXPECTED WAVELENGTH/
FUTURE DATA
SENSOR POLARIZATION RESOLUTION FRAME SIZE REPEAT CYCLE ACCESS
LAUNCH FREQUENCY
Single: HH, VV, VH, HV
Very high, high, medium,
C-band Dual: HH/HV, VV/VH, HH/VV Satellite: 12 days
RCM 2019 and low-res modes 20x20-500x500km TBD
λ = 05.6cm Compact Constellation: ~hrs
(3-100m)
Quad
Single: HH, VV, VH, HV
L-band
NISAR 2021 Dual: HH/HV, VV/VH, HH/VV 3-20m (mode dependent) 250km 12 days Free & open
λ = 24.6cm
Quad

P-band
BIOMASS 2021 Quad ≤60x50m 160km 17 days Free & open
λ = 70cm

Satellite: 16 days
L-band
TanDEM-L 2023 Single, dual, quad modes 12x12m 350km Constellation: Free & open
λ = 24.6cm
8 days

SOURCE: Meyer, Franz. “Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar – Principles, Data Access, and Basic Processing Techniques.” SAR Handbook: Comprehensive Methodologies
for Forest Monitoring and Biomass Estimation. Eds. Flores, A., Herndon, K., Thapa, R., Cherrington, E. NASA.