Summary

The increase in the number of Earth observation satellites has enlarged the amount of data available in this field. However, many applications being developed have identified important limitations, both technological and methodological.

The configuration of the orbital observation systems (revisit time, angle of incidence, resolution, etc.) is not always adapted to the needs of the users. In addition, current radar systems mounted on small UAVs do not meet the technical requirements for use in differential interferometry and polarimetry. Existing data processing algorithms are not able to combine data obtained by different sensors and/or with different spatial scales. There are also no methods for analysing large multi-source remote sensing data sets with a holistic view, i.e. integrating models and data. Finally, the information content of new types of data available (such as interferometric coherence time series or single-pass POLINSAR data) has not been explored to date.

The adoption of remote sensing data by more users has allowed them to know their real needs and translate them into specifications of the final products. With them, instruments and methodologies can be designed to meet their requirements. For example, in the agriculture domain there exist products of interest for the European Common Agricultural Policy and for precision farming. In the area of geological risks, products deal with monitoring subsidence, landslides and damage assessment in infrastructure and buildings.

The realization of this project will enable to improve the technology already developed in previous projects and to provide both new sensors and new methodologies of processing and combination of multi-sensor and multi-scale data. This takes advantage of the new SAR availability policy of the European Commission Copernicus Programme (Sentinel-1/2) and the availability of data for civilian applications of PAZ (the Spanish SAR), recently launched. The project reinforces the leadership of the research teams in the GEOSAR missions, facilitating the participation of Spanish universities and companies in the proposal and eventual development of a future European satellite of this type.

The research team of the project consists of two groups with recognized experience in systems, techniques and SAR applications, belonging to the University of Alicante and the Technical University of Catalonia. The coordination between both teams allows to take advantage of the experience and the multidisciplinary approach required by the project in the following aspects:

• Development of new SAR systems: one integrable in different platforms (GB-SAR and UAV) and prepared to carry out PolSAR/InSAR/PolInSAR measurements, and another of bistatic GB-SAR type that uses a GEOSAR as transmitter.
• Development of new methodologies that combine optimally data from different sources (radar, optical, meteorological, in-situ, etc.), spatial resolutions, frequency bands, etc. in order to generate useful final products.
• Design and implementation of complete operational and automated remote sensing data processing chains in agriculture and geological hazards applications.