Processing Information

Path-oriented processing produces products that are oriented in the geometry of the swath. Points on the Earth are determined from the orbital data.

Map-oriented processing produces products that provide map coordinates with "North Up". Points on the earth are located more precisely by using ground control points (GCPs). Map-oriented processing is available for all RADARSAT-2 beam modes with the exception of ScanSAR.

The GeoTIFF format (Geographic Tagged Image File Format) is a widely used and versatile raster file format that is platform independent. This popular format can be read easily by most Geographic Information Systems (GIS) image processor and Computer Aided Design (CAD) software.

Path-oriented Processing

Single Look Complex(SLC)
Processing level data is stored in slant range. It has been corrected for satellite reception errors, and includes latitude and longitude positional information. In addition, Single Look Complex data retains the optimum resolution available for each beam mode and the phase and amplitude information of the original SAR data. Data cannot be directly viewed as images by all software.

Path Image(SGF)
Processing aligns the scene parallel to the satellite's orbit path. Data has been converted to ground range and is multi-looked processed.

Path Image Plus(SGX)
Processing uses smaller pixel spacing than Path Image processing to retain full RADARSAT beam mode resolution. This will enhance your ability to make detailed analyses of point targets or to obtain subsequent spatial information if required. However, it will create a digital file that is considerably larger than a Path Image product.

Map-oriented Processing

Map Image(SSG)
Processing orients the scene with "North Up" and corrects the scene to a map projection.

Precision Map Image(SPG)
Processing orients the scene with "North Up" and Ground Control Points (GCPs) are used to improve positional accuracy.