Seasat-A data acquisition and distribution

Abstract

The instrument package of the Seasat-A satellite, scheduled for launch in 1978, consists of a short-pulse radar altimeter, a wind field scatterometer, a scanning multichannel microwave radiometer, and an experimental L-band synthetic aperture radar. Objectives of the mission include precision altimetry for marine geoid and sea surface topography assessments, the determination of wave directional spectra through radar scatterometry, and sea surface temperature measurements through microwave emission analysis. The synthetic aperture radar, operated selectively, is intended to yield land and sea imagery with a resolution of 25 m for such requirements as coastal surveys.