About NovaSAR-1
NovaSAR-1 is a technology demonstrator satellite mission. It represents a new concept in Earth observation satellites – a small Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission designed for low-cost programs, using a combination of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies. The SAR instrument operates in the S-band microwave frequency (3.2 GHz), corresponding to a 9.4 cm wavelength. The spacecraft is also equipped with an Automatic Identification System (AIS) that can be combined with NovaSAR-1’s maritime surveillance mode for ship detection.
- Contributors Acknowledges the partners responsible for financing, developing, and launching NovaSAR-1
- Program Timeline A brief history of NovaSAR-1 including manufacture, launch, testing and operations.
- Capacity Share Outlines the NovaSAR-1 capacity share concept, our priority area of interest and CSIRO’s mission plan.
- Satellite Specifications Defines the main mission characteristics
- S-Band SAR Provides information on S-band and comparisons to X, C and L-bands
- Automatic Identification System (AIS) Describes the AIS secondary payload
- Baseline Acquisition Modes Describes the NovaSAR-1 acquisition modes: Stripmap, ScanSAR, ScanSAR Wide and Maritime
- Detailed Acquisition Modes Defines the further options available within the baseline modes in more detail
- Imaging Characteristics This section has information on polarisations, pass direction and antenna pointing
- Revisit and Coverage Provides details on the NovaSAR-1 orbit characteristics, revisit and coverage
- Product Types and Processing Levels Describes the processing levels in which NovaSAR-1 products are provided
- Naming Conventions Describes the data naming conventions used for NovaSAR-1 product folders and files
- Data Formats and File Types Describes the data formats that NovaSAR-1 products are distributed in
- Data Quality Information on features such as ambiguities, speckle and geolocation accuracy
- Calibration and Validation Outlines the procedures used in the calibration of NovaSAR-1 data
- Compatible Software Lists the software programs with readers available for processing NovaSAR-1 data