COMISION NACIONAL DE ACTIVIDADES ESPACIALES SAOCOM PROJECT a

COMISION NACIONAL DE ACTIVIDADES ESPACIALES SAOCOM PROJECT a joint Argentine-Italian SAR-L Mission update 2014 and outline of the Global Background Mission Laura Frulla CONAE CEOS SDCG-5 ESRIN, Frascati/Italy Feb 24 -26, 2014

Mission Overview Ø A constellation of two identical satellites, SAOCOM 1 A and SAOCOM 1 B, carrying each one a polarimetric L-band SAR instrument (1, 275 GHz) Ø Sun synchronous, synchronous nearly circular frozen polar orbit (06: 12 am LTAN/619. 6 km) with identical orbital characteristics as COSMO-Sky. Med Ø repeat cycle of 16 days for each satellite (8 days for the constellation) Ø Mission target lifetime: 5 years CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 2

Mission Update 2014 Ø Mission Critical Design Review (M-CDR) M-CDR in Nov. 2013 Ä Passed OK Ø Flight Segment Qualification Review Step 1: April 2014 Ø SAR Protoflight Model: March 2015 Ø Flight Segment Qualification Review Step 2: May 2015 Ø Ground Segment Qualification Review: Sept. 2015 Ø Launch Readiness Review: Nov. 2015 Ø Launch schedule: ÄSAOCOM 1 A: 2015 ÄSAOCOM 1 B: 2016 CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 3

Satellite and Ground segments Satellite segment capacity specifications: Ø Capacity to acquire and downlink >225 images per day per satellite, i. e. >450 for the constellation. Ground segment capacity specifications: Ø Average daily number of catalogue consultations: in the order of 5000 Ø The CONAE user Service shall be able to handle at least 500 image requests per day. Each request may induce one or more SAOCOM programming requests to be issued to the MOC. Ø The CONAE user Service shall be able to process 200 SAOCOM products per day, inside the response time, up to level 1 D products. CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 4

SAOCOM – Baseline mission Fixed acquisitions: • For soil moisture – over the Pampas (main Argentinian region dedicated to agriculture and cattle – 83 Mha) • Sensor calibration – Specific point targets in Argentina and Italy (Europe) – Homogeneous rain forest areas in the Amazon and Congo basins CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 5

SAOCOM – Foreground mission Variable acquisitions (world-wide) • User requests through CONAE’s Spatial Information Cycles programme (from Argentina and abroad) • ASI interest area, including exclusivity area ASI Exclusivity Area: Full utilisation rights of SAOCOM ASI Area of Interest: Rights to use SAOCOM for research, risk management, health applications and Governmental use. CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 6

SAOCOM – Background mission (referred to the Argentine interest) To foresee acquisitions of certain valuable data to generate a data base useful for future uses according to available resources Fixed acquisitions • Argentinian institutional users • National acquisition plan developed. Predetermined acquisition plans for (20) dedicated application areas defined by Argentinian institutions and user groups – Natural resources mapping, Emergency mitigation, volcanoes, maritime surveillance, etc. CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 7

SAOCOM –Background Mission (world wide) Global Background Mission (GBM) • GBM currently under development for SAOCOM-1 A and SAOCOM-1 B • CONAE thematic objective: Forest biomass • Building consistent archives over global forests – First focus: Forests in the pan-tropical zone – Second focus: Siberian forests – Third: Others (TBD) CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 8

SAOCOM – Background Mission (world wide) Global Background Mission • Annual dual season pan-tropical observations CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 9

SAOCOM – Background Mission (world wide) Global Background Mission • Annual dual season pan-tropical observations CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 10

SAOCOM – Background Mission (world wide) Global Background Mission • Second priority: Siberian boreal zone CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 11

SAOCOM – Background Mission (world wide) Global Background Mission • Compliant with CEOS/SDCG recommendations – Repetitive annual observations over the pan-tropical zone – Dual season (wet and dry) – Fine spatial resolution (10 m) – Dual polarisation (HH+HV) • Max acquisition time for GBM 5 min/orbit to minimise impact on high priority observations • Acquisition planning for SAOCOM-1 B has started (Sept 2013) CEOS SDCG-5 Frascati, Italy – Sep 24 -26, 2014 12