Magellan radar image of lava domes in Alpha Regio region of Venus

Radar image of a portion of the buried Chicxulub impact crater in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Scientists believe the crater was formed by an asteroid or comet which slammed into the Earth more than 65 million years ago. It is this impact crater that has been linked to a major biological catastrophe which wiped out more than 50 percent of the Earth's species, including the dinosaurs.

SIR-C/X SAR radar image of Mauna Loa Volcano, Big Island of Hawaii

Why Do We Need LightSAR?
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are famous for exploring other planets. Many of the technologies used were developed for studies of our own home, Earth. One of those technologies is imaging radar, which is used to bounce radar signals off Earth’s surface and record the energy returned. Then these images are analyzed to find out about features on the ground.

One of the key advantages of radar is its ability to “see” the surface of a planet through clouds and darkness. In fact, it was technology gained and lessons learned from early Earth imaging radars that led to the development of the Magellan radar system, which in August 1990 began producing a spectacular map of the cloud-shrouded surface of the planet Venus.

In Earth studies, radar data can help describe whether the terrain is high or low, whether the surface is bare or covered by trees, cities, crops, or rocks, and precisely how the surface is changing over time.

Using Advanced Technology

LightSAR (for Light Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a proposed mission that would use an advanced imaging radar system to monitor Earth’s surface. The LightSAR mission would build on extensive experience gained during two decades when more and more sophisticated radar systems were flown in space to test and develop the Earth science applications of this technology. The proposed spacecraft, however, would be smaller and less expensive to develop and operate.

Unlike the earlier short-duration radar missions, the LightSAR spacecraft would orbit Earth for five years, making continuous observations (cloudy or clear, day or night) of the Earth’s surface.

Solid Scientific Data and a Wealth of Practical Information

Because of its planned long-term operation, LightSAR would collect large amounts of information about our planet, and provide an important contribution to NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise. This program is a long-term research effort designed to better understand how the Earth is changing, how we cause or contribute to these changes, and how those changes affect us. In addition, the information from LightSAR could potentially help us address a whole range of practical issues, including:

  • Measuring motion of the Earth's surface, to help us better understand earthquakes and volcanoes and support emergency management efforts.

  • Studying the movements and changing size of glaciers and ice floes to help better understand long-term climate variability.

  • Developing highly detailed and accurate elevation maps.

  • Monitoring floods and where they are likely to occur.

  • Assessing terrain for the likelihood of finding oil or other natural resources.

  • Early recognition and monitoring of oil spills.

  • Assessing the health of crops and forests.

  • Planning urban development and likely effects.

  • Studying land cover and land use change.

Pushing the Boundaries of Science and Technology

Because of advances in radar and spacecraft technology, the LightSAR spacecraft under study would be much smaller and less expensive and perform better than comparable systems that are only a few years old.

  • The LightSAR satellite would be the most sophisticated and capable radar system in orbit today, providing nearly complete coverage of the Earth’s surface every 8-10 days. LightSAR could provide calibrated measurements of most locations on Earth about once each day.

  • This repeating coverage would give LightSAR the unique capability to continuously monitor changes in the Earth’s topography as small as a few millimeters (25 millimeters = 1 inch).

  • Capabilities under study would enable the radar to measure features as small as 1-3 meters (3-10 feet), offering significant potential for commercial use in topographic mapping, land management, planning and development.

Leading the Next Level of Expansion in Commercial Remote Sensing

Because LightSAR offers important benefits to both the science community and U.S. industry, an innovative government-industry teaming approach is being explored, with industry sharing the cost of developing LightSAR in return for commercial rights to its data.

The four industry teams selected to work on LightSAR definition studies are reviewing business and teaming approaches, preparing market analyses, developing applications, defining technical approaches, and identifying potential industry cost-sharing of follow-on development. These study teams are headed by the following companies:

JPL is managing the overall LightSAR mission and the Stennis Space Center Commercial Remote Sensing Program is managing the development of commercial applications. LightSAR is a part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.

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