Genesis of a new NASA InSAR mission concept, and natural hazards applications

The National Research Council's Decadal Survey for Earth Science identified InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) observations among the highest priorities for new NASA Earth missions. A system making observations required by the solid Earth, vegetation, and ice/climate science communities is recommended. In response, analyses are underway to evaluate efficient combinations of science objectives and mission/instrument scenarios. The InSAR component can be satisfied by a new radar instrument concept capitalizing on existing technology and hardware, including a large commercial mesh reflector antenna and transmit/receive modules developed for the UAVSAR airborne radar. This InSAR system satisfies key science objectives and addresses several shortcomings of existing InSAR capable satellites. To reduce temporal decorrelation, L-Band (23 cm) wavelength is used. A 300 km wide-swath scanSAR mode with 8 day repeat enhances study of ice dynamics, pre/post earthquake deformation, volcano monitoring, and other dynamic phenomena. With a minor orbit change, global biomass surveys are possible using multipolarization. Key challenges are involve scheduling to optimize conflicting observational requirements of various science communities served.