SARTREK Newsletter: November 2005

In This Issue:

1. SOAR Proposal Submission Deadline is Approaching!
2. RADARSAT-2 Pre-launch Products and Activities CD
3. Software Supporting Polarimetric Analysis
4. RADARSAT-2 Discussed at the Baltic Sea Ice Meeting
5. The Ground Segment Integration Exercise
6. Did You Know?

Science and Operational Applications Research Program (SOAR) Proposal Submission Deadline is Approaching!

Principal investigators with an approved Letter of Interest (LOI) have until November 30, 2005 to submit their full proposal. The online submission system is available at https://www3.space.gc.ca/soar4/ . You must enter your LOI reference number and password to access the system. If you have any problems or questions, please contact the SOAR coordination office (SOAR@space.gc.ca).

Getting Ready for RADARSAT-2: Pre-launch Products and Activities CD

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has produced a CD showcasing many pre-launch products whose development they supported over the last few years. The CD includes RADARSAT-2 Fine and Standard beam mode simulated images in quad-pol and dual-pol. Two freeware programs are available on the CD for viewing the data courtesy of PCI Geomatics and Vexcel Canada. Also on the CD are polarimetry workshop materials produced by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, CSA and MDA.

For more information on the availability of the CD, email Daniel DeLisle at CSA (daniel.delisle@space.gc.ca) or Client Services at MDA's Geospatial Services (clientservices@mdacorporation.com)

Software Supporting Polarimetric Analysis

Vexcel Canada Announces EV-Matrix Polarimetric Analysis Software

With RADARSAT-2's launch in 2006, Vexcel Canada is responding to the need for new software to assist users in working with RADARSAT-2 polarimetric data. Vexcel Canada's EarthView® Matrix (EV-Matrix), created with the support of the Canadian Space Agency is a software package designed to give researchers greater flexibility in viewing, manipulating and analyzing polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. This product complements existing EarthView® software tools and can also function as a stand-alone module.

Specific features of the software can be viewed at: http://www.vexcel.com/products/remote/softwares/evmatrix/features.php

For more information, please contact Daniel Houle at daniel.houle@vexcel.com

PCI Geomatics Provides Polarimetric Software Tools

PCI Geomatics has completed the SAR Polarimetry Workstation (SPW) which will be released later this year as an add-on to Geomatica 10 - the latest version of PCI Geomatics flag-ship geospatial software. SPW was created with the support of the Canadian Space Agency.

The SPW is a comprehensive toolkit designed to help develop techniques for applying SAR polarimetry to land and water monitoring and resource management challenges. PCI Geomatics' SPW provides a complete set of tools and applications designed specifically for the processing and analysis of Polarmetric SAR (POLSAR) data. Features of the SPW include:

• Ingests a variety of POLSAR data products in their original distribution formats
• Maps product-specific metadata to a set of standardized metadata items
• Provides multiple modes of target selection
• Includes a wide range of target analysis operations with both numerical and graphical output
• Provides a comprehensive set of operations on entire datasets

For more information, please contact PCI Geomatics at info@pcigeomatics.com.

RADARSAT-2 Discussed at the Baltic Sea Ice Meeting

Quiz: What do SAR images have in common with wine?

"SAR images for ice applications are like a bottle of wine - best shortly after opening, don't use after a couple of days" (Ulf Gullne, Swedish Maritime Administration).

The 22nd Baltic Sea Ice Meeting, hosted by the Estonian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, took place in Tallinn from October 3 - 7, 2005. The meeting was attended by members of the ice services community from Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Latvia, as well as the World Meteorological Organization.

National ice services, such as the Finnish and Swedish Ice Services, use RADARSAT-1 images to produce ice charts and ice information products, as well as to help in optimising icebreaker assistance schedules. In some cases, RADARSAT-1 images are delivered directly in near-real time to the crew onboard the icebreakers.

Highlights of the conference include a visit to Estonia's icebreaker "Tarmo" located in Tallinn Harbour and an opportunity to see the steam icebreaker "Suur Tõl," that was built in 1914 and currently housed in the Estonia Maritime Museum.

MDA's Geospatial Services was invited to participate in the scientific session of the conference and gave presentations on radar principles and a review of the features and benefits of RADARSAT-2 with a focus on ice applications. It is expected that the multi-polarization capabilities of RADARSAT-2 will benefit the ice services community by helping to resolve ambiguities currently found with single-polarization data such as location of ice edge, ice concentration and ice type.

Participants of the 22nd Baltic Ice Meeting in Tallinn.

The Ground Segment Integration Exercise

In late September, MDA's Geospatial Services was involved in an Integration Exercise (IE) for the RADARSAT-2 ground segment. The exercise tested the full ordering process starting with order requests, to satellite tasking and ending with product delivery. During the exercise, participants from across Canada assumed different roles. Orders submitted by MDA's Geospatial Services client service representatives were passed on to Mission Planners for satellite tasking, while the Canadian Government Order Desk and the Canadian Ice Service issued quotations, ordered products from a (simulated) foreign archive, and processed and ensured delivery of products.

"The Integrated Exercise was designed to emulate the systems and business processes of RADARSAT-2 when it becomes operational. By the end of the exercise, we had obtained valuable feedback from the user community that will help us improve the systems and processes before launch" said Philippe Rolland, MDA's Geospatial Services Head Mission Planner for RADARSAT-2.

Mr. Rolland adds, "The exercise was an excellent opportunity for training people on the RADARSAT-2 operations infrastructure and also helped to streamline procedures to enhance the overall operations process."

Did you know?

RADARSAT-2 Construction Progress:

RADARSAT-2 satellite integration and testing is progressing smoothly at the David Florida Lab. The Extended Support Structure (ESS) and the Solar Array Wings (SAW) acceptance testing have been successfully completed. Payload components (SAR Antenna Panels, +Y Panel with Sensor Electronics) have been received and are currently undergoing integration testing.

In addition, facility modifications are underway at St. Hubert in preparation for the arrival of RADARSAT-2 control equipment in early 2006.

MDA's Geospatial Services - A New Name

In July, RADARSAT International and several other Companies in the MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) family were rebranded and are now conducting business under the common brand name "MDA". RADARSAT International belongs to the Geospatial Services group and is known as MDA's Geospatial Services International. We look forward to continuing our mission of providing the Earth observation community with dedication and innovation as we enter the exciting new era of RADARSAT-2.

RADARSAT-1 celebrated 10 Years in Space on November 4, 2005

Read the press release to find out more »