Ground segment for RISAT-1 SAR mission

RISAT-1 carries a C-band multi-mode Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operating in Stripmap, ScanSAR and Sliding Spotlight modes and mainly caters to civilian land applications related to agriculture, forestry and disaster management. Considering the multi-resolution and multi-polarization requirements of RISAT-1 SAR, on-board programmability and flexibility in SAR payload as well as fairly autonomous operation have been major mission requirements. The necessary intelligence and sophistication have been built into the on-board SAR subsystems to fulfill these essential requirements, apart from intelligent control and coordination of active antenna of RISAT-1 SAR payload. The complexity and large size of on-board SAR instrument have demanded a matching and equally innovative approach for ground segment operations for RISAT-1 mission. Since the launch of RISAT-1 satellite by PSLV-C19 flight on 26 April 2012, the satellite and SAR payload performances as well as mission and ground segment operations have been found to be nominal and satisfactory. This article highlights the features and achievements of various RISAT-1 ground segment systems and the activities carried out during pre-launch, launch and Early Orbit Phase and normal operating phases of RISAT-1 SAR mission, data reception chain, quick look processing, offline data product generation and dissemination chains.