CRISTALair, the CRISTAL Airborne Demonstrator ...

• Main Authors: Garcia-Mondejar, Albert, Gibert, Ferran, Ray, Chris, Colet, Clara, Vendrell, Ester, Meta, Adriano, Desantis, Matteo, Fodonipi, Massimo, Skourup, Henriette, Bjerregaard Simonsen, Sebastian, Scagliola, Michele, Cipollini, Paolo, Gracheva, Valeria
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: CNES 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24400/527896/a03-2023.3686; https://ostst.aviso.altimetry.fr/programs/abstracts-details.html?tx_ausyclsseminar_pi2[objAbstracte]=3686&cHash=X

CRISTAL (Copernicus polaR Ice and Snow Topography ALtimeter) will be the first mission to carry a dual-frequency synthetic-aperture radar altimeter as its primary payload. The altimeter will have interferometric capabilities at Ku-band to improve the across-track resolution and a second Ka-band frequency to provide information on snow layer properties. The development of a novel mission like CRISTAL is crucially dependent on dedicated campaigns that provide the essential data for the L1 and L2 algorithm development and validation. CRISTALair succeeds ASIRAS (Airborne SAR/Interferometric Radar System), which operated in both the Arctic and Antarctic from 2004 to 2019. The main advancement in CRISTALair lies in its ability to acquire data simultaneously in Ku- and Ka-band, elevating the Science Readiness Level (SRL) of dual-band algorithms/processings. Beyond the dual-band radar, CRISTALair will integrate an airborne laser scanner, a color-infrared camera, and ancillary equipment to ensure precise positioning ...