Potential of MEO SAR for Global Deformation Mapping

Inhalt:
Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites have the ability to provide global coverage with 1- to 2-day revisit, at altitudes below 10000 km, and continental/oceanic coverage with multidaily observations at higher altitudes, e.g., at 20000 km. Increased altitudes provide more flexibility in the design of the observation geometry, e.g., going to highly inclined orbits while maintaining a global access, a favorable property for true 3-D deformation measurements with a monostatic system. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquisitions from MEO altitudes require a certain compensation for the increased losses in the free space propagation of the radar signals and (typically) the coverage of wider swaths. These losses can be compensated by the usage of large antennas, high transmit powers, and a reduction in the spatial resolution. This paper discusses the potential of MEO-SAR systems to map ground deformation with high sensitivity to the North-South displacements at moderate resolutions (some tens of meters).