RADARSAT-2 Imagery now available

RADARSAT-2, Canada's new commercial SAR satellite, was launched in December 2007 on a Soyuz vehicle from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Operating in C-band, the RADARSAT-2 ensures continuity of all existing RADARSAT-1 modes.

RADARSAT-2 technical enhancements provide improved capabilities for mapping. These enhancements include high-resolution 3-meter data and multi-polarization, which improve the discrimination and recognition of surface features and targets. In addition, greater positional information and control over the RADARSAT-2 orbit garners higher absolute accuracies of end products (eg. InSAR and DEMs).

For environmental concerns, RADARSAT-2 will provide marine surveillance, from tracking commercial fishing activities to monitoring oil spill occurrences as well as improved land cover mapping, particularly in grasslands and forests.

RADARSAT-2 Successfully Launched

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. announced the successful launch of RADARSAT-2, Canada’s commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite. The satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan December 17 at ~ 05:17 Pacific Standard Time on a Soyuz launch vehicle. Check out the launch video.

In addition to providing data continuity for RADARSAT-1, RADARSAT-2 is also supposed to improve data repeatability, and data quality for applications such as environmental monitoring, ice mapping, resource mapping, disaster management and marine surveillance.

SkyTruth has used RADARSAT data in documenting oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Katrina as well as the Cosco Busan oil spil in the San Francisco Bay. It's also an indispensible tool for detecting and monitoring the locations of vessels at sea: we're currently assessing the feasibility of using satellite images to monitor vessel activity in the Papahānaumokuākea (Northwest Hawaiian Islands) Marine National Monument, with support from the Campbell Foundation. We look forward to many more years of using RADARSAT to monitor our coastal waterways!