RADARSAT Constellation Mission Daniel De Lisle on behalf of Steve Iris (RCM Mission Manager)
RADARSAT Constellation Mission
Daniel De Lisle
on behalf of Steve Iris (RCM Mission Manager)
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RCM Key Mission Drivers• Continuity of C-Band SAR for Operational Users• Improved revisit over wide areas• Responsive Ground Segment (tasking and
latency)• Smaller, more cost efficient satellite development• Improved reliability (i.e. redundancy and
scalability)• Evolution to wider Operational use• Government-owned and operated
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Core Use Areas
Maritime Surveillance Disaster ManagementEnvironmental Monitoring
• Ice & Iceberg Monitoring
• Pollution Monitoring• Vessel Detection
– Including AIS• Marine Winds
• Forestry• Protected Areas &
Wildlife Habitat• Agriculture• Wetlands• Coastal Change
• Flood Monitoring• Windstorms• Earthquakes• Landslides• Volcanic Activity• Permafrost
User & Science TeamThe U&ST was formed at the early stage of the project (2005-phase A) to engage end user department to ensure requirements would be addressed and capture in the mission development.
User Requirements DocumentU&ST primary work was to develop the URD including inputs from Canadian Government Departments stakeholders.
Mission Requirements DocumentURD was used as the input to the development of the MRD. This hi-level document is keeping updated to ensure that the end-to-end system meets the mission objectives and user requirements.
Users involvement
Application Geographic Coverage
Revisit Resolution End Use
Ice and iceberg monitoring
Great LakesCoastal zones (3 oceans)Shipping lanes
Daily Medium Ice charts
Marine winds Great LakesCoastal zones (2 oceans)
Twice daily Low Marine weather and weather forecasting
Oil pollution Shipping lanesCoastal zones
Daily Medium ISTOP (Marine pollution) programSpill response
Ship detection 1200nm (above 42˚ N) Daily or better Medium to high Domain awareness product
Forestry Forest areas of Canada Annual Medium State of the forest report
Protected areas and wildlife habitat
Parks and sensitive areas
Annual Medium to High Change map
Agriculture Cultivated land in Canada
Weekly (seasonal)
Medium (30m) Crop classification, crop yield products, tillage practice product
Wetlands Wetlands in Canada Annual Medium to High Change map
Coastal change Coastlines3% highly sensitive
Monthly Low to Medium Change map
User requirements summary
Imaging Modes
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Imaging Modes
1 Even if there is no requirement on Quad-Pol mode, here is the performance currently estimated by MDA:- range resolution : 8m (approximately)- azimuth resolution : 6m- swath width : 20km- accessible swath : 250km centring on 35 deg. incidence- NESZ : <-25dB
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Ice Monitoring
ArcticWeekly – Dec.- MayDaily – June – Nov.
Inland LakesWeekly – Oct. to June
GL, East Coast & Nfld.Daily – Dec. - August
West Coast
Daily -- Year Round
GL & East Coast
Daily -- June-November
ArcticDaily -- June – Nov.Open Water Areas
Oil Pollution
West Coast
Daily -- Year Round
GL & East Coast
Daily -- May-November
ArcticDaily -- June – Nov.Open Water Areas
Marine Winds Ships Detection
Maritime Operational User Needs Coverage Areas
Average Daily Coverage of Marine AOIs
Accessibility with 3 satellites of Cdn marine zones at Medium 50m resolution
4-day coverage of AAFC AOIs with all ascending passes using the Med Res 30m mode.
Standard Coverage Concept• Issue
– Large geographic and temporal overlaps in Users and Applications requirements
– Various preferred imaging modes
• Approach– Analyse User imaging requirements spatially and
temporally over the annual cycle to determine a "feasible" imaging plan, with agreed upon compromises in overlapping zones
• Result Standard Coverage– Collections of data acquired routinely in harmonized and
de-conflicted imaging modes intended to optimize and maximize the utility of the data across all User requirements
Simulated Standard Coverage for maritime surveillance
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Coherent Change Detection
• Short-period (4-day) Coherent Change Detection (CCD) will be a unique capability
• ScanSAR (125 km) and Stripmap (25 km) modes optimized for CCD• Requires tight Orbital Tube maintenance 100 to 200 m
specification
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Compact PolarizationSea Ice Characterization
Incidence angle
20 25 30 35 40 45 50
o R
H (
dB
)
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5Thin iceFYIFYI roughMYIOcean
m- CompositeSea Ice Typing
RH vs
Source: CCRS & EC-CIS
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Compact PolarizationAgriculture
Crop Classification
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Pasture Soybean Corn Wheat Pasture Soybean Corn Wheat
HH,VV
Stokes VectorsF
m- Composite
ClassificationSeasonal Results
HH & VV CP parameters
Source: AAFC &CCRS
Classes of Products• Raw Products
– Raw Radar data in FRED format
• Image Products– Processed SAR images– Variety of processing levels
• single-look complex products, • multi-looked power-detected geo-referenced products• geo-coded products
– Include a “Doppler Grid” with 2 km spacing– Same format as RADARSAT-2: GeoTIFF images with xml meta-data
• Information Products– Ship detection products: xml files with
• Time, Location, Confidence measure, Estimated RCS and length
System Products
• Global Access: Can image anywhere except an area within 1500 km of the south pole (right-looking only)
• Global Revisit: 24 hours on average (any point can be imaged 12 times in 12 days)
• Real-time downlink over Canadian maritime areas of interest• Most products ready for delivery within minutes of downlink to a
Canadian Data Reception Facility• Capability to downlink data acquired over Canadian Maritime Areas of
Interest within 3 hours of acquisition outside Canadian station mask• Capability to downlink data acquired over Canadian Land Areas of
Interest within 2 hours of acquisition• Products available within 48 hours of receipt of an order for an
acquisition anywhere in the world• Fast tasking: 4 hours
Access, Throughput and Latency
Data PolicyRCM Priority Roles• Serve public interest by responding to requirements of
Canadian government departments and Canadian non-commercial users
• Pursue commercial thrust for data distribution and value-added services
• Support science and applications development by industry and academia
• Monitoring long term scientific phenomena
RCM focuses on operational users for which
“Standard Coverages” will be defined
Data Policy ConsiderationsRegulation• RCM is subject to the Cdn Remote Sensing Space Systems Act
(RSSSA) which will determine what data may become public and who can access RCM data more generally.
Within limitations of the RSSSA and other security elements:
• Standard Coverages serve all operational users– Most of their data would become public
• RCM Archives are intended to be Free and Open, accessible on-line through an on-line catalogue (except for commercial and sensitive data)
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Data Utilization & Applications Plan
•Ensure Optimum use of the data when system becomes operational for Canadian Government Users
•Facilitate the integration of RCM data into existing operational applications of RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2.
•Support the integration of RCM data into applications that have been demonstrated to the point where they are fully integrated into the operations of OGDs in support of their mandates
•Support science, research and development activities for potential new applications or improve existing ones.
•Facilitate the utilisation and access to data, product and services produced by RCM to users.
International Collaboration: RCM – Sentinel-1
• GoC Users want easier access to multiple SAR missions Both missions are C-Band SARs at the same frequency
• Collaboration could improve GoC Users coverage, reduce latencies, and provide complementary data/modes
• Simplified access and synergy with Sentinel-1 could alleviate potential data acquisition conflicts within RCM
• Collaboration would maximize the use – and potential benefit to respective Users – of both RCM and Sentinel-1 data
RCM – Sentinel-1 Collaboration
The following collaborative activities are currently explored:• Joint / integrated pre-defined acquisition plans(complementarities in observations / modes, increased revisit, etc.)• Level 1 Product format• Harmonization of catalogue interface• Development of common tools• Harmonized communication, joint publications etc.• Joint calibration working group is being set up
Summary
• RADARSAT Constellation Mission is designed to continue/enhance the use of SAR to support Government of Canada operations as well as internationally
• Support to government users for application development
• Compact Polarization , Multi-pass/Frequent Revisit and 4-day CCD provide opportunities for new information and applications
• Opportunities for synergy and collaboration with Sentinel-1 are being pursued seriously
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Thank You !