BackForwardInstrument:  SAR-C (GF-3) 

Instrument details
Acronym SAR-C (GF-3)
Full name Synthetic Aperture Radar, C-band
Purpose All-weather observation over land and ocean.
Short description C-band synthetic aperture radar with 12 operating modes, several with several polarisations. Detailed description not yet avalable
Background Instrument on a satellite, part of the Gaofen constellation, that also carries optical instruments
Scanning Technique Pushbroom. Swath in the highest resolution mode: 10 km. Addressable within a field-of-regard of 650 km
Resolution 1 m in the highest resolution mode
Coverage / Cycle Global in one week in the large-swath mode. With 3 satellites revisit period is less than 1 day.
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CNSA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2016 to 2030
Last update: 2023-01-12
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
  • Imaging radar (SAR)
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • SAR imagers and altimeters
  • SAR imager
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Glacier cover
  • Glacier motion
  • Glacier topography
  • Ice sheet topography
  • Land surface topography
  • Sea-ice cover
  • Sea-ice type
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
Biomass3 - highIndex only.. Infrequent coverage.C-band sensitive to total biomass
Dominant wave direction3 - highInfrequent coverage.C-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Dominant wave period3 - highInfrequent coverage.C-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Fire fractional cover3 - highInfrequent coverage.C-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land4 - fairNo specific limitation.C-band SAR
Glacier cover*2 - very highLong time for mapping.C-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion*3 - highInfrequent coverage.C-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Glacier topography*3 - highLong time for mapping.C-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography*3 - highLong time for mapping.C-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover4 - fairNo specific limitation.C-band SAR
Land surface topography*3 - highLong time for mapping.C-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Oil spill cover1 - primaryInfrequent coverage.C-band SAR
Significant wave height4 - fairHighly indirect.. Infrequent coverage.C-band SAR. Retrieved by spectral analysis of "imagettes". Boundary condition necessary for the retrieval
Snow cover3 - highThick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.C-band SAR
Snow status (wet/dry)5 - marginalThick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.C-band SAR
Snow water equivalent3 - highChange detection only.. Infrequent coverage.C-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture (in the roots region)5 - marginalAffected by vegetation.. Infrequent coverage.C-band SAR. Assimilation process required
Soil moisture at surface3 - highAffected by vegetation.. Infrequent coverage.C-band SAR
Soil type4 - fairNo specific limitation.C-band SAR
Vegetation type5 - marginalNo specific limitation.C-band SAR
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum3 - highInfrequent coverage.C-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Sea-ice cover*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.C-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation4 - fairNo specific limitation.C-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness4 - fairChange detection only.C-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Sea-ice type*2 - very highNo specific limitation.C-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness