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First RADARSAT Image Received

The Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar Facility recently received its first test data transmission from the fourth SAR-carrying satellite it supports---RADARSAT.

ASF expects to begin receiving data from RADARSAT, Canada's first earth observation satellite, on a regular basis in late March.

Because the SAR carried by RADARSAT can acquire data about Earth's surface day or night, through clouds or smoke, it is a versatile tool for any field that relies on remote sensing techniques.

SAR data acquired from RADARSAT, which was launched in November 1995, will be used to support scientific work within a variety of research areas, including geology, glaciology, oceanography, volcanology, forestry, agriculture, hydrology, and sea ice studies.

In addition to RADARSAT, which completed its 1000th orbit on January 13, ASF supports two European Remote Sensing satellites (ERS-1 and ERS-2), which were launched in July 1991, and April 1995, respectively, and the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS-1), which was launched in May 1992.

ASF now receives an average of more than 70 minutes of data each day, even though the NASA-funded facility initially was designed to take in only 10 minutes of data each day.

Changes in equipment over time have enabled the facility to increase its data-collecting capacity.

Black-and-white and color-enhanced versions of the first RADARSAT image, which depicts Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada, are available at the Canadian Space Agency.