Prospective Russian satellite-borne synthetic aperture radars

Problems of earth remote sensing are considered that are solved by means of radars. Parameters of current and prospective satellite-borne synthetic ap erture radars (SARs) are analyzed. The characteristics of the X-band system under design, the Resurs-Arktika (Severyanin), are presented. The purpose of this system is to satisfy the national needs in monitoring northern terr itories and provide safe navigation in sea ice fields. It is shown that a l onger wavelength band system is required for solving other problems of remo te sensing of Russian territories, The analysis of the potentialities of sy stems of various frequency bands suggests that it is expedient to design an L-band system.