BackForwardInstrument:  COSI 

Instrument details
Acronym COSI
Full name Corea SAR Instrument
Purpose High-resolution all-weather multi-purpose imager for ocean, land and ice. Most useful for recognisance
Short description Synthetic Aperture Radar with Active Phase array - Frequency: 9.66 GHz (X-band) [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Consolidated technology
Scanning Technique Spotlight / Strip / ScanSAR - Field of Regard 185-490 km (nominal) with possibility of extension from 490 to 675 km. Duty cycle: 2 min/orbit, i.e. 2 %
Resolution 1 m @ Spotlight, 3 m @ Strip, 20 m @ ScanSAR
Coverage / Cycle Depending on pointing strategy
Mass 520 kg Power 600 W Data Rate 310 Mbps

 

Providing Agency KARI
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2014-03-30 to ≥2021
Last update: 2020-02-26
Detailed characteristics
Operation mode Resolution Swath Polarisation

High Resolution mode

1 m 5 km HH or VV or HV or VH, selectable

Standard mode

3 m 30 km HH or VV or HV or VH, selectable

Wide Swath mode

20 m 100 km HH or VV or HV or VH, selectable
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)
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Fraction of vegetated land
  • Glacier motion
  • Glacier topography
  • Land cover
  • Land surface topography
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Tentative 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
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Dominant wave direction2 - very highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Dominant wave period2 - very highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"
Fire fractional cover3 - highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. High resolution, for fire boundary detection
Fraction of vegetated land3 - highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Glacier cover2 - very highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for accurate boundary detection
Glacier motion5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Glacier topography3 - highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Ice sheet topography3 - highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Land cover3 - highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Land surface topography3 - highLong time for mapping.X-band SAR for interferometry between images taken at time intervals
Oil spill cover1 - primaryInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Sea-ice cover1 - primaryNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Sea-ice elevation4 - fairNo specific limitation.X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry
Sea-ice thickness4 - fairChange detection only.X-band SAR. Sea ice elevation measured by interferometry. Thickness inferred by ice model
Sea-ice type2 - very highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR. Type interpreted as age/roughness
Significant wave height3 - highHighly indirect.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Retrieved by spectral analysis of "imagettes". Boundary condition necessary for the retrieval
Snow cover3 - highThick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Snow status (wet/dry)4 - fairThick snow only.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Snow water equivalent3 - highChange detection only.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR. SWE is retrieved by grigging with data from ground networks
Soil moisture at surface3 - highStrongly affected by vegetation.. Infrequent coverage.X-band SAR
Soil type3 - highNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Vegetation type5 - marginalNo specific limitation.X-band SAR
Wave directional energy frequency spectrum2 - very highInfrequent coverage.X-band SAR. Variable measured by spectral analysis of "imagettes"