SAR Constellation to Improve Disaster Management

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• SAR Constellation to Improve Disaster Management
• Dr. Guy Seguin, Director,
• Spacecraft Payloads, CSA
• Andrew Eddy, President, Athena Global
• UN Workshop on the Use of Space Technology for
  Disaster Management
• October 2004

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RADARSAT-1
Added 10 additional fine beams after launch
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RADARSAT-1 Disaster Management
Emergency Planning and Management oil spill off
the coast of Japan - 1997
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RADARSAT-1 Disaster Management
Emergency Planning Hurricane Isabel off North
Carolina, September 2003
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RADARSAT-1 Disaster Management
Emergency Response oil slick detection
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RADARSAT-1 Disaster Management
GDIN RADARSAT-derived product
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RADARSAT-2

• Will join RADARSAT-1 in December 2005 with
  enhanced capabilities
• Higher resolution at 3 m
• (instead of 8 m)
• Enhanced discrimination
• provided by polarimetry
• Ground moving vehicle
• detection

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Most Pressing Needs

• Higher revisit
• Only 7 passes per day over Canada (300 km
  swath/50 m resolution) comparable global
  problem revisit every 7 days.
• Higher reliability
• Single satellite single point failure
• Integrated Products
• Disaster managers need integrated approach with
  tailored products rather than images and data

One day coverage scanSAR narrow
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From Monitoring to Management
50 min coverage of east Atlantic

• One reason users do not adopt space solutions is
  because they dont meet their needs
• SAR Constellation approach
• Six satellites flying in constellation 10
  minutes apart
• Sun-synchronous orbit provides fly-by at 6 am
  and 6 pm.

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SAR Constellation Architecture
Provides satellite to satellite 5 m targeting on
demand

• Scan a 300 km wide swath
• with 50 m resolution to detect areas of
  interest
• Communicate with
• next satellite

• Form a 5 m resolution
• image of area of interest

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Global System Coverage Provides near twice daily
world coverage
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Applications for Disasters

• Mitigation mapping
• Preparedness flood monitoring, geo-hazard
  prediction, ice monitoring
• Response operational support in real-time to
  disaster managers (floods, fires), including
  situational awareness and critical infrastructure
  assessment
• Recovery and Assessment wide-scale change
  detection