Andrew Yee[_1_]
March 16th 07, 09:12 PM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
16 March 2007
Envisat radar mosaic of Europe
This mosaic of Europe was produced using 143 images acquired by Envisat's
onboard Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument, working in wide
swath medium resolution (WSM) mode, between January and May 2006.
White and greyish spots on the mosaic indicate urban cities, with Paris,
London, Dublin, Berlin, Lisbon, Vienna and Madrid being particularly
evident. Mountain ranges, including the Alps, Apennines and Pyrs, are also
visible, as is Mount Etna.
The Earth observation Grid team of ESA's Grid Processing on Demand
department produced the mosaic in just 18 hours due to the ability of the
Grid-based system to distribute the processing load over many computers.
Of Envisat's 10 onboard instruments, ASAR is the largest. It was built to
provide continuity with the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors, which
contributed to major scientific achievements, onboard ESA's ERS-1 and ERS-2
satellites.
Envisat's ASAR instrument uses radar beams to map the surface of the planet
below, with several different modes that allow broad views or detailed
snapshots. It is able to map the shape of the land, profile waves and ice,
monitor land use and types of vegetation and measure some of the properties
of the surface.
The sensor monitors Earth in two different modes: Global Monitoring Mode
(GMM), which provides 400-kilometre swath one-kilometre resolution images,
and Wide Swath Mode (WSM), which possesses the same swath but with 150-metre
resolution for a detailed view of areas of particular interest.
Approximately 10 Gigabytes of ASAR WSM products are acquired daily and
processed at ground stations in near-real time.
ASAR GMM images are routinely provided to a variety of users, including the
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ice
Centre, responsible for tracking icebergs worldwide.
ASAR imagery is also being used operationally to track icebergs in the
Arctic by the Northern View and ICEMON consortia, which provide
ice-monitoring services as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and
Security (GMES) initiative, jointly backed by ESA and the European Union.
[NOTE: Image and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM9QLQ08ZE_index_0.html ]
http://www.esa.int
16 March 2007
Envisat radar mosaic of Europe
This mosaic of Europe was produced using 143 images acquired by Envisat's
onboard Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument, working in wide
swath medium resolution (WSM) mode, between January and May 2006.
White and greyish spots on the mosaic indicate urban cities, with Paris,
London, Dublin, Berlin, Lisbon, Vienna and Madrid being particularly
evident. Mountain ranges, including the Alps, Apennines and Pyrs, are also
visible, as is Mount Etna.
The Earth observation Grid team of ESA's Grid Processing on Demand
department produced the mosaic in just 18 hours due to the ability of the
Grid-based system to distribute the processing load over many computers.
Of Envisat's 10 onboard instruments, ASAR is the largest. It was built to
provide continuity with the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors, which
contributed to major scientific achievements, onboard ESA's ERS-1 and ERS-2
satellites.
Envisat's ASAR instrument uses radar beams to map the surface of the planet
below, with several different modes that allow broad views or detailed
snapshots. It is able to map the shape of the land, profile waves and ice,
monitor land use and types of vegetation and measure some of the properties
of the surface.
The sensor monitors Earth in two different modes: Global Monitoring Mode
(GMM), which provides 400-kilometre swath one-kilometre resolution images,
and Wide Swath Mode (WSM), which possesses the same swath but with 150-metre
resolution for a detailed view of areas of particular interest.
Approximately 10 Gigabytes of ASAR WSM products are acquired daily and
processed at ground stations in near-real time.
ASAR GMM images are routinely provided to a variety of users, including the
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ice
Centre, responsible for tracking icebergs worldwide.
ASAR imagery is also being used operationally to track icebergs in the
Arctic by the Northern View and ICEMON consortia, which provide
ice-monitoring services as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and
Security (GMES) initiative, jointly backed by ESA and the European Union.
[NOTE: Image and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM9QLQ08ZE_index_0.html ]