RADARSAT Swath Planner V3.1r1

RADARSAT Swath Planner
User Manual
April 1998 - Version 3.0r3

Updated November 2002 - Version 3.1r1
13800 Commerce Parkway, MacDonald Dettwiler Building,

Richmond, British Columbia, Canada V6V 2J3
Tel: 1-(604) 244-0400 Fax: 1-(604) 244-0404 E-mail: info@rsi.ca
www.rsi.ca
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
PART 1 - INTRODUCING THE RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER

RADARSAT Swath Planner Overview................................................................................................................... i
Who Should Use the SPA........................................................................................................................................ i
RADARSAT International (RSI) Support Services................................................................................................. i
What's New with SPA Version 3.0R3..................................................................................................................... ii
Swath Planner V3.1r1 Release Notes.................................................................................................................... iii
How to Use this Manual........................................................................................................................................ iv
PART 2 - GETTING STARTED

Chapter 1
Installing and Starting the Swath Planner.............................................................. 1-1

System Requirements............................................................................................................. 1-1
The RADARSAT Swath Planner Installation CD.................................................................. 1-1
Installing the RADARSAT Swath Planner............................................................................. 1-1
Obtaining Updated Configuration, Preference and DRF Files.............................................. 1-3
Obtaining Updated Archive Files........................................................................................... 1-3
Starting and Exiting the Swath Planner.................................................................................. 1-4
Chapter 2
An Overview of the Swath Planner.......................................................................... 2-1

What is the Purpose of the Swath Planner?............................................................................ 2-1
Understanding the Swath Planner Window............................................................................ 2-1
Swath Planner File Types and Locations................................................................................ 2-2
Antarctic Mode....................................................................................................................... 2-3
Chapter 3
Understanding RADARSAT's Orbit & Beam Modes............................................... 3-1

Characteristics of RADARSAT's Orbit.................................................................................. 3-1
Characteristics of RADARSAT's Beam Modes...................................................................... 3-2
Chapter 4
An Overview of the Swath Planning Process......................................................... 4-1

Understanding Key Terms...................................................................................................... 4-1
Key Concepts of RADARSAT Swath Planning..................................................................... 4-2
Understanding the Client's Data Needs.................................................................................. 4-2
Basic Steps in Preparing a Swath Acquisition Plan................................................................ 4-3
Submitting an Acquisition Plan to RSI................................................................................... 4-3
PART 3 - ESSENTIAL OPERATIONS

Chapter 5
Selecting System & Display Preferences................................................................ 5-1

System Options....................................................................................................................... 5-1
Colour and Style Assignments of Display Features............................................................... 5-2
Time and Spatial Measurement Units..................................................................................... 5-4
Regional Geographic Overlays............................................................................................... 5-5
System File Locations............................................................................................................. 5-8
RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002
Chapter 6
Managing the Map Display Options and Moving Around the Display Screen.... 6-1
Changing Map Display Options............................................................................................. 6-1
Moving around the Map Display............................................................................................ 6-2
Redrawing the Map Display................................................................................................... 6-3
Operating Modes (View, Region & Swath)............................................................................... 6-3
Displaying RADARSAT DRF Visibility Masks..................................................................... 6-5
Chapter 7
Regions of Interest.................................................................................................... 7-1

Creating Region Files............................................................................................................. 7-1
Editing Region Files............................................................................................................... 7-3
Saving Region Files................................................................................................................ 7-4
Managing Region Files........................................................................................................... 7-4
Chapter 8
Generating a Swath Acquisition Plan...................................................................... 8-1

Swath Generation Constraints................................................................................................ 8-1
Generating Swaths.................................................................................................................. 8-1
Analyzing Swaths (Selecting, Viewing, Tagging & Deleting)............................................... 8-3
Using the Browse and Information Screens........................................................................... 8-7
Framing and Editing Image Swaths........................................................................................ 8-9
Advanced Editing of Image Swaths..................................................................................... 8-12
Saving and Managing Swath Acquisition Plans................................................................... 8-14
Chapter 9
Searching the RADARSAT Archive......................................................................... 9-1

Entering the Search Parameters.............................................................................................. 9-1
What's in the RADARSAT Archive?...................................................................................... 9-2
Keeping Archive Files Updated.............................................................................................. 9-3
PART 4 - PLANNING EXAMPLES

Chapter 10
Planning Example 1: Single Image, Single Orbit................................................. 10-1

Urban Planning Application - Vancouver using Fine 2
Chapter 11
Planning Example 2: Multi Image, Single Orbit.................................................... 11-1

Coastal Mapping Application - Costa Rica using Standard Beam 4
Chapter 12
Planning Example 3: Multi Image, Multi Orbit (Single Cycle)............................. 12-1

Ice Monitoring Application - Resolute Bay using ScanSAR Wide A
Chapter 13
Planning Example 4: Multi Image, Multi Cycle..................................................... 13-1

Land Mapping Application - Kenya using Standard 6 & 7
Chapter 14
Using the Archive.................................................................................................... 14-1

Land Mapping Application - Archived and Programmed Data
PART 5 - ADVANCED OPERATIONS

Chapter 15
Additional Swath Planner Functions.................................................................... 15-1

Importing Image Strip Catalogue Files.................................................................................. 15-1
Printing the Map Display...................................................................................................... 15-1
Printing Other Information Windows................................................................................... 15-2
Exporting User Requests as ASCII files............................................................................... 15-2
The Frame and Table files...................................................................................................... 15-3
Chapter 16
Using the Timeline Window.................................................................................... 16-1
Chapter 17
Advanced Use of Region Files............................................................................... 17-1

Adding Client Information to Region files........................................................................... 17-1
Generating Swaths from the REGION menu....................................................................... 17-3
APPENDICES
Appendix A List of Shortcut Keys............................................................................................... A-1
Appendix B Beta Test Evaluation................................................................................................ B-1
Appendix C Geographic Overlays............................................................................................... C-1
Appendix D Beam Widths............................................................................................................ D-1
Appendix E Calendar of Orbits/Latitudinal Distances.............................................................. E-1
Appendix F
RADARSAT's Orbit Sub-Cycles.............................................................................. F-1
Glossary.............................................................................................................................................. G-1
Part 1
Introducing the
RADARSAT
Swath Planner
Introducing the RADARSAT Swath Planner

RADARSAT Swath Planner Overview
The RADARSAT Swath Planner Application (SPA) is a simple but powerful graphical tool that can be used to assist users
with the planning and acquisition of RADARSAT imagery. RADARSAT provides 35 image products, each differing in the
size of the area imaged ("beam mode") and/or the incidence angle ("beam position") used. This flexibility makes the
planning and ordering of RADARSAT data slightly more complex than that for other systems such as ERS, SPOT or
LANDSAT.
RADARSAT International (RSI) provides the RADARSAT Swath Planner software for the purpose of enabling users to
independently search the RADARSAT archive and to prepare Preliminary Assessments for required RADARSAT data
acquisitions. The SPA allows the user to view existing data and potential data acquisitions; however, it does not provide the
user with sufficient information to actually program the satellite. Implementing a final acquisition strategy and programming
the satellite requires knowledge of the technical constraints of satellite operations and the satellite workload; knowledge of
the time required to process and distribute data; and knowledge of the characteristics of RADARSAT which affect any
particular use of the data. Therefore, please consider this when using the SPA and be advised that the final selection of beam
positions and acquisition dates is made only with approval from the Acquisition Planning Department at RSI.
Who Should Use the SPA

The intended audience of this User Manual includes RSI Distributors, operators of the RADARSAT Data Reception
Facilities, and any interested end users of RADARSAT data. Basic knowledge of RADARSAT capabilities and competence
in using the relevant computer-operating environment is assumed.
RADARSAT International (RSI) Support Services

If you have any questions about the RADARSAT Swath Planner, first consult this User Manual or the online Help. If you
cannot find the answer, contact:
RADARSAT International, Client Services
13800 Commerce Parkway, MacDonald Dettwiler Building,
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada V6V 2J3
Tel: 1-(604) 244-0400 Fax: 1-(604) 244-0404 Email: info@rsi.ca
www.rsi.ca
Support services are available Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00, Pacific Standard Time.

Part 1 - Introducing the RADARSAT Swath Planner
-i-
What's New with SPA Version 3.0R3

As with all new software, the SPA is continuously being tested and upgraded by its developers. Registered users will receive
new versions as they are released, together with any documentation updates that are made. It is very important to use the
most current configuration file for the Swath Planner. This is available on RADARSAT International's public FTP site.
Please see Chapter 1: Installing and Starting the Swath Planner for information on how to access the most current
configuration file and other pertinent system files.
We welcome any comments you may have on how the SPA.
evaluation form included in Appendix B.
Please contact us directly with your feedback, or use the
The following summarizes the major additions and changes to SPA Version 3.0R3:
1) Modify Swath Planner to retain "real-time' / 'recorded' beam attributes between planning sessions in User Request
File. Provides capability to save and restore an acquisition plan with 'recorded' mode acquisitions using the standard
CSA supplied 'spa.cfg' file.
2) Correct Swath Edit functionality where swath edit acts only on generated beam instead on entire accessibility
swath. Restrict Swath editing to interpret (mouse) cursor position within selected beam only.
3) Modify Swath planner 'File->Open' function to display only the selected beam position ("requested beam")
instead of the complete accessibility swath ("requested swath"). Added options in preferences to set swath editing
method of displaying entire "accessibility swath" or "beam position" when tagging and editing swaths. User can
override this preference in swath menu and respective right mouse pop-up window.
4) Modify Swath Mode (F4 key) to have an option to 'show accessibility swath' or 'show beam position' from right
mouse button menu. Add option in preferences for user to switch swath edit operations to display either single beam
position only or single beam position and the accessibility swath.
5) After a 'Swath -> Copy Forward' function, the 'Edit Swath' function does not work unless you edit the start time
first before editing the stop time. "Copy Forward / Backward" functions corrected to enable editing of stop time
without requiring User to First Edit start time.
6) When digitizing a region, the operator is not alerted when lines have accidentally crossed until the region is
saved. Since the edit function does not work, the operator must start again (polygon within a polygon). New
Warning message to indicate crossed lines while digitizing region polygons.
7) Modify Swath Planner to simplify beam switching (F10 key) in a crowded swath plan by using additional
function keys to switch between beam positions. In "Tag Swath" mode, F10 key replaced by the TAB key to switch
from one beam to another within the selected accessibility swath. Use shift + TAB key to switch backwards. Use
F10 key to switch to next region, next swath (if overlapping).
8) Create a 'Swath->Copy Backward' function which would work the same way as the 'Swath->Copy Forward'
function. Implemented "Copy Backward' function similar to "Copy Fireward". Add menu option and function to
perform "Copy Backward" operation.
9) Modify the Swath Planner to prompt for User Confirmation to save the Region File only if the Region file has
been changed. Remove "Save Region" prompt if region(s) if region files have been modified.
10) Modify the 'FILE -> Preferences' to allow the option of saving all opened regions or only the current region with
the 'FILE -> Save' User Request File. Added option in Preferences file to save:
a) all "Open Regions"
b) "Selected Region" only
c) Do Not Save Regions"
d) "Acquisition Region" in User Request File.
-i-
11) The framing menu is now available only when one swath is selected. On all previous version it was accessible
all the time. Enable user to select Framing options when no swath(s) are selected as follows:
a) When swath is selected, apply framing options to selected swath
b) When no swath is selected, apply framing options to all swaths.
c) Add "OK/Cancel" to confirm. The menu option Framing -> Apply to all Swaths' is no longer used.
12) "Save" prompt added to offer user options to save/restore the User Request File if the
"Automatic Gain Control" / "Fixed Gain settings" are changed during session.
13) Optimized DRF visibility algorithm so DRH visibility is always available with no precomputation delay;
optimize DRF visibility mask swath intersection to correct deficiencies in existing.
14) Optimized "Antarctic Mode" warning message with option to disable all further Antarctic mode warnings until
current session is terminated.
Swath Planner V3.1r1 Release Notes

Following is a list of the updated features that have been included in Swath Planner v3.1r1 from the previous release v3.0r3:
Swath Planner v3.1r1 - New Feature Sheet:
1.
Map layer display function has been changed to a background process allowing the following new operations:
a) The user can interrupt map layer display at any time (press "Q" on keyboard)
b) The user can change map view options while map layers are being drawn
c) The user can change map view options while swath generation is in progress. Program event loop has been optimized so
that CPU resources are only used on demand.
2.
Implemented new option in SWATH menu to "Tag All Swaths" or "Untag All Swaths".
3.
Implemented automatic swath measurement in new information window under SWATH menu to provide swath length, area,
orbit times, and additional orbit information of selected beam.
4.
Corrected region coverage error when 2 swaths start at same orbit.
5.
Implemented swath fill function as follows:

a) A new option under SWATH menu called "Fill Beam" can be checked or unchecked.
b) When "Fill Beam" is checked all tagged beams will be filled with the current default colour for requested swath (dark
gray).
c) The user can "Redraw Display" to refresh screen and see all areas where there are coverage groups.
d) When "Fill Beam" is un-checked all tagged beams are displayed with lines
6.
Swath Edit and View items in the SWATH menu have been placed in a sub-menu for improved usability as follows:
-i-
a) The following items under the SWATH menu are moved to "Swath Edit Options",
- View Only
- Edit Properties
- Copy Forward
- Copy Backward
- Next Beam
- Previous Beam
b) The following items under the SWATH menu are moved to "Swath View Options",
- Accessibility Swath or Beam Position (default is Accessibility Swath)
- Fill Beam (default is Fill Beam)
7.
Updated configuration file to 4.33
How to Use this Manual

Upon receiving your copy of the RADARSAT SPA, we suggest you start by reading Part 2: Getting Started section of this
Manual. This section gives instructions on how to install the software, an overview of the SPA design and a brief
introduction to RADARSAT's beam modes and orbit characteristics.
Then, read Part 3: Essential Operations which provides the basic operating instructions on how to create regions of interest,
generate swath plans and search the RADARSAT catalogue. After completion of this section, you will understand enough to
create, analyze and save your own acquisition plans.
Next, try Part 4: Planning Examples, which walks you through five progressively difficult planning examples.
Leave Part 5: Advanced Operations until you are comfortable operating the software. This section provides additional
instructions on advanced operations, such as the new region functions and working detail with Data Reception Facility
visibility masks. These operations are not necessary for searching the archive and creating basic acquisition plans.
The examples and graphics in this manual are illustrated as they appear under Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Dialogue
boxes will be slightly different when operating under Windows 95.
Typographical Conventions: The following kinds of formatting in the text identify special information:
Bold and Italic type
Italic type
Terminology from the RADARSAT Swath Planner including words or commands

that you select from menus
Specialized terms or document names
No attempt is made to duplicate the information contained in RADARSAT Illuminated: Your Guide to Products &
Services. This important document should be used as a reference for all product information.

-i-
Part 2
Getting Started
Chapter 1
Installing and Starting the RADARSAT Swath Planner
System Requirements
The minimum system requirements for the RADARSAT Swath Planner are as follows:
PC with an 486 DX/66 MHz

MS Windows for Workgroups 3.x or Windows 95
VGA compatible video card
CD-ROM
20 Mb of hard disk space (plus 100 Mb for installation of optional regional overlays)
8 Mb of RAM
Internet access to RADARSAT International's anonymous FTP site (ftp.rsi.ca)
The RADARSAT Swath Planner Installation CD

The installation CD-ROM contains five directories. There are two main directories for system files: Win32s and SPA-xrx.
There are three auxiliary directories for auxiliary functions: overlays, tutorial and archive. The following is a brief
description of each directory:
Win 32s - contains Microsoft Win32 extensions. It is required for Windows for Workgroups only. It is not
required for Windows 95, or higher versions.
SPA-xrx - contains the main Swath Planner Application files. The actual name of the directory will reflect the
current version release number - i.e. spa3-1r1
Geographic Overlays - contains the optional overlay files that give better accuracy to the map displays in the Swath
Planner. These files may be used directly from the CD-ROM or copied to your hard disk. These files require an
additional 100Mb of disk space.
Tutorial - contains some files that are needed to walk through the planning examples in Chapters 10 -14.
Archive - contains the archive catalogue files required for searching the RADARSAT International archive of
acquired imagery. These archive catalogue files were current on the date the CD-ROM was created.
Installing the RADARSAT Swath Planner

The main directories must be installed onto your hard drive in order to run the RADARSAT Swath Planner. However, the
auxiliary directories can be run directly from the CD-ROM if preferred.
In the following procedures, drive X is assumed to be your CD-ROM; drive C is assumed to be your hard drive; and
SPA3.0r3 is assumed to be the current version of the Swath Planner.
Installing Win32s Extension for Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Part 2 - Getting Started Chapter 1: Installing and Starting the Swath Planner
1-1
If you are using Windows for Workgroups, Win32s is required on your system in order to run the RADARSAT
Swath Planner. It is not required for running the Swath Planner on Windows 95 or later. Win32S is only an
extension of the Window for Workgroups 3.11 system, and will not affect the performance of your other Windows
applications.
1.
Close any open applications on your computer, and display the Program Manager in Windows.
2.
From the Program Manager File menu, choose Run, and then type x:\win32s\setup.exe in the command-line
box, and click OK.
3.
C
C
C
C
C
C
Do the following:
Click Continue from the Win32s setup
Verify Windows System Directory
Click Continue if you wish to accept the target directory c:\windows\system\
Click OK to confirm installation
Click Exit to bypass installation of the Freecell Game
Click OK to confirm a successful installation
4.
Click Continue to restart Windows with the Win32s extensions
Installing the RADARSAT Swath Planner

1.
Close any open applications on your computer, and display the Program Manager in Windows or the Start
Menu in Windows 95.
2.
From the Program Manager File menu in Windows for Workgroups or the Start Menu in Windows 95,
choose Run, and then type x:\spa3_1r1\setup.exe in the command-line box, and click OK.
3.
C
C
C
Do the following:
Click OK to accept the target directory
Click OK to accept default name for the Windows desktop group
Click OK to confirm a successful installation
Installing the Geographic Overlays

In total, the geographic overlay files require approximately 100 Mb of memory. Installing the geographic overlay
(*.geo, Bounds.dat, Coasts.dat, Rivers.dat, Wvsfull.dat) files directly onto your hard drive will maximize the speed
with which they can be displayed during an acquisition planning session. However, if you wish to sacrifice speed in
order to conserve hard disk space, install only the overlays, which are of most relevance to your acquisition planning
requirements. See Appendix C for areal coverage charts.
1.
Use your File Manager to transfer the files contained in the overlays directory to the newly created
subdirectory c:\spa3_1r1\ spamaps \.
Installing Tutorial Files

Since the examples provided in Chapters 10 through 14 require the use of these region (*.rgn) files, you may prefer
to copy these files into your region directory for permanent access.
1.
Use your File Manager to transfer the files contained in the tutorial directory to the newly created
subdirectory c:\spa3_1r1\region\.

1-1
Installing Archive Catalogue Files

The archive data files, which have been created to date, are also included on the installation CD in the Archive
directory. These files are not installed by the installation program and must be manually copied to the hard disk.
1.
Use your File Manager to transfer the files contained in the archive directory to the newly created
subdirectory c:\spa3_1r1\archive\.
Obtaining Updated Configuration, Preference and DRF files

Periodically, the configuration file (spa.cfg), the preferences file (spa.prf) and the DRF file (radarsat.drf) are updated (see
Chapter 2 for a detailed description of these files). Rather than requiring a new installation package each time these files are
updated, these files are stored separately from the rest of the installation files on the installation CD. To complete the
installation procedure, copy these files as directed below:
1.
From your File Manager, copy the following files into the corresponding directories:
x:\spa3_1r1\updates\spa.prf
to
c:\spa3_1r1\
x:\spa3_1r1\updates\spa.cfg
to
c:\spa3_1r1\data\
x:\spa3_1r1\updates\radarsat.drf
to
c:\spa3_1r1\query\
Once you have installed the Swath Planner, it is important to regularly verify that you are still using the correct release of the
configuration file and the DRF file. Updates for the configuration file and DRF files will be posted on RSI's anonymous
FTP site as soon as they are available. Checking the time stamp on the posted files will tell you whether the release is an
updated version or not. To check which version of the configuration file the program is using, select Configuration from the
Swath Planner Help menu.
Use your favourite FTP program (or WEB Browser) to copy the files as below:
spa.prf
to
c:\spa3_1r1\
spa.cfg
to
c:\spa3_1r1\data\
radarsat.drf
to
c:\spa3_1r1\query\
RSI's anonymous FTP site is located at ftp.rsi.ca. The user ID is "anonymous". Use your e-mail address as the password.
Please check this site regularly to ensure you have acquired the latest configuration files.
Obtaining Updated Archive files

RSI's anonymous FTP site posts all the archive data files used to display acquired swaths in the SPA. The archive data files
are named according to the year and month of the contained swath acquisitions. For example, the archive data file containing
acquisitions for July 1996 is called 199607.DAT. See Chapter 9 for a detailed description of the archive files.
The current and previous month's archive data files are updated on a weekly basis every Sunday morning (current ). To
maintain an updated library of archived data files, the current and previous month's files should be copied from the FTP site
to your hard disk on a weekly basis.
Use your favourite FTP program (or WEB Browser) to copy the archive files as below:
yyyymm.dat to
c:\spa3_1r1\archive\yyyymm.dat

1-1
Repeat for each file you need to copy to maintain an updated library of archive files.
RSI's anonymous FTP site is located at ftp.rsi.ca. The user ID is "anonymous". Use your e-mail address as the password.
Starting and Exiting the RADARSAT Swath Planner

To start the SPA, simply double-click on the SPA icon. The SPA program will begin execution and the Map Window will
appear at full screen size. The window is dominated by a world map in a Mercator projection, showing major latitude and
longitude grid lines, with numerical annotations. To exit, select Exit from the File menu.

1-1
Chapter 2
An Overview of the RADARSAT Swath Planner
What is the Purpose of the RADARSAT Swath Planner?
The RADARSAT Swath Planner is a tool, which simulates RADARSAT's orbit. It allows you to generate, view, edit and
analyze swath plans in order to identify the most suitable acquisition plan for your client and the application. However, it
does not provide you with all the information necessary to actually program the satellite. Once you have determined a
suitable acquisition plan, please submit this plan to your Client Services Representative for review and approval by the
Acquisition Planning Department. RSI's Acquisition Planners will be able to confirm the availability of specific dates and
ensure that the acquisition plan optimizes the satellite resources while satisfying the client's requirements.
Understanding the RADARSAT Swath Planner Window

The SPA window closely resembles the typical interface of other Microsoft Windows applications. Even with a basic
understanding of Windows, you will find the SPA window easy to understand and use.
This section provides an overview of the major elements of the SPA window, such as the Menu Bar, Tool Bar and Status Bar.
The following illustration identifies these key elements:
Menu Bar
Tool Bar
Status Bar
The Menu Bar allows you to execute all of the SPA's operations . The basic features of each main menu selection are as
follows:

Part 2 - Getting Started Chapter 2: An Overview of the RADARSAT Swath Planner
2-1
FILE
Enables you to open new or existing acquisition plans, save current acquisition plans, import catalogue files,
export ASCII files, print files, clear the screen of existing swaths and regions, specify preferences and exit the
SPA.
EDIT
Enables you to change operational modes (VIEW, REGION and SWATH), to toggle through different swaths, and
to delete swaths.
VIEW
Enables you to select which screen elements are displayed, redraw the screen, zoom in and out, select Data
Reception Facility (DRF) masks, display geographic overlays, and to open the time-line window.
REGION
Enables you to create, save, open and edit specific regions of interest, obtain geographical information about the
coverage of the region, store and retrieve additional client-oriented information and to generate swaths over a
region of interest.
SWATH
Enables you to generate acquisition swaths, search the catalogue, tag and untag swaths, edit swaths and retrieve
swath acquisition details.
FRAMING
Enables you to apply, remove and add image frames to selected image swaths.
HELP
Enables you to get on-line help for most SPA features.
The Tool Bar displays currently open User Request (*.htm) files and Region (*.rgn) files. If more than one file is open, a
pick-list will be available.
The Status Bar has three distinct fields. The field in the bottom left corner shows either the map projection and scale (e.g.
World Mercator 1: 189,323,307), or if you are in Edit Swath Mode, shows detailed information about the selected swath. The
middle field shows the cursor mode or operating mode (e.g., Select Map Window or VIEW Mode). The field in the bottom right
corner shows the geographic coordinates of the cursor's current position (e.g., 49 24'10"N 75 28'00" W).
Swath Planner File Type and Locations

The SPA expects various types of files to be found in certain directories. The location of these files is controlled in the
FILE/Preferences/File Locations menu. The types of files are as follows:
Data Files: These are files used by the SPA program such as the configuration file (spa.cfg), the printer definition
file, the coarse world map, templates for the User Request files and the help files. The files are stored under
x:\spa3_1r1\data\. In addition, a preferences file (spa.prf) which defines certain default settings and the initialisation
file (spa.ini), are stored with the executable file in the root directory x:\spa3_1r1\.
Archive files: These are the archive files used by the SPA Search Catalogue option. The initial files are provided
with the SPA installation CD but need to be updated regularly. The files are stored under x:\spa3_1r1\archive\.
Query Files: These HTML (hypertext mark-up language) files include the Data Reception Facility file (radarsat.drf)
and Image Strip Catalogue query files (*.cat). The radarsat.drf is required by users to display Data Reception
Facility (DRF) visibility masks. The catalogue files are available only to users with direct access to the Mission
Management Office of the Canadian Space Agency through the User Request Editor. The files are stored in
x:\spa3_1r1\query\.

2-1
User Files: These HTML files are created whenever you save a swath plan (create a User Request file) or export an
ASCII file. It is recommended that you create sub-directories for storing user request files. The files are stored in
x:\spa3_1r1\user\.
Region Files: These HTML files are created whenever a region is defined and saved. Again, it is recommended that
you create sub-directories for storing these files. The files are stored in x:\spa3_1r1\region\.
Map Files: These files are used by the SPA to draw the regional overlays. The files are often large and may be kept
on a publicly accessible directory to save space.
The following diagram shows the FILE/Preferences/ File Locations dialogue box:
The initial location of these files is determined by
the set-up and installation of the SPA. To change
the
location
of
these
files,
select
FILE/Preferences/File Locations and type in the
complete pathname of the new directory.
If the options are active (place an "X" in the box
beside the filename), the SPA also creates some
additional files when a User Request is created
and saved. These are the Frame File, the Table
File and the Bitmap File. These files are
generated for use in RSI's Quotation Tool.
However, other users may find the data in these
files useful for the presentation of acquisition
plans. The Frame File and the Table File contain
information concerning the swaths in the
acquisition plan, such as acquisition date and
time, beam mode and beam position, coverage
achieved by a frame, and geographic coordinates. The Bitmap File contains an image capture of the screen display. Most users outside of RSI can usually deactivate the option of generating these files.
Antarctic Mode
The Antarctic mode of RADARSAT is the state in which the satellite has been turned 180 degrees so that the synthetic
aperture radar (SAR) looks to the left of its flight path instead of the right, as it does in the normal mode.
The SPA consults its configuration file (spa.cfg) to find the scheduled intervals during which RADARSAT was (or is
predicted to be) in Antarctic mode. If this time interval overlaps a period in which the swaths are generated, or if a catalogue
swath falls within an Antarctic mode interval, the SPA will issue a warning and then display Antarctic mode swaths on the
other side of the ground track.
Since the intervals of the Antarctic mode are subject to revision, it is important to ensure that you have the most recent copy
of the spa.cfg file.

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Chapter 3
Understanding RADARSAT's Orbit and Beam Modes
Characteristics of RADARSAT's Orbit
The orbit and acquisition characteristics of RADARSAT determine the coverage that is possible over
any particular region of interest. For this reason, it is useful to understand the basic characteristics of the
RADARSAT orbit and acquisition modes.
The area that is imaged is generally a strip or swath, which always lies to one side of the satellite flight
path. The swath can vary in length, width and position depending on how long the sensor is operated,
and the imaging mode and beam mode that is activated.
RADARSAT has a circular, near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit. This brings the satellite close to both the
North and South Poles and keeps the satellite in the same relative position to the sun, preserving similar
illumination characteristics throughout the orbit cycle. RADARSAT orbits at an altitude of 797
kilometres above the Earth, crossing the equator at angle of 98 degrees with a westward drift. Adjacent
passes of the satellite cross the equator every 116.84 kilometres, with convergence at the poles. The orbit
was chosen so that RADARSAT can observe most points on the Earth at regular intervals.
RADARSAT's SAR sensor is right looking, meaning that on an ascending pass, the satellite faces east.
As the satellite passes over the North Pole and travels toward the equator, it begins its descending pass,
and thus faces west.
RADARSAT will pass over a given geographic location at two different times during the day (morning
pass and evening pass). RADARSAT crosses the equator in a southerly direction at dawn (06:00) and
crosses the equator in a northerly direction at dusk (18:00).
RADARSAT Pass Directions

Part 2 - Getting Started Chapter 3: Understanding RADARSAT's Orbit and Beam Modes
3-1
Key Definitions
Orbit: The path followed by the satellite around the Earth. In this document, "orbit" is used to
indicate the satellite's track during one (and only one) rotation around the Earth. The
RADARSAT satellite shifts westward with each successive orbit. One orbit takes one
hour, 40 minutes and 46 seconds.
Cycle: After 343 orbits (or 24 days), the satellite begins to trace its original orbit - this is called
the "orbit repeat cycle"
Key Orbit Characteristics
Altitude:
Inclination:
Orbit Period:
Orbits/Day:
Repeat Cycle Period:
Orbits/Repeat Cycle:
797.9 km
98.594E
(the angle at which the ground track
intersects the equator, where 90E would be perpendicular)
100.77 min (1 hour 40 minutes and 46 seconds).
14 7/24
(14.29 orbits in 24 hours)
24 days
(after 24 days, RADARSAT will
pass over the exact same ground track)
343
(343 orbits in 24 days)
One Day Orbit Track

The figure below illustrates the westward movement of ground tracks over 15 orbits (approximately a
24-hour period). Note the gaps between ground tracks. At the equator, successive ground tracks are
separated by 4,452.8 km. At the end of a complete cycle, these gaps are filled in with subsequent orbits.
The ground track of orbit #2 passes the equator 1 hour, 40 minutes and 46 seconds after orbit #1. For a
more detailed description of RADARSAT's 3,4 and 7-day sub-cycles, refer to Appendix F.
Figure 1 RADARSAT ground tracks after 15 orbits (Mercator projection).
Characteristics of RADARSAT's Beam Modes

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RADARSAT has seven different beam modes and 36 different beam positions. Each beam mode differs
in detail and arial coverage. Each beam mode has one or more beam positions. Each beam position
covers a strip of the Earth at a particular position relative to the ground track and has slightly different
imaging characteristics.
In February 1997, 10 new Fine beam positions were added to RADARSAT. The addition of these new
beam positions greatly increases RADARSAT's coverage efficiency and eliminates the gaps at the
equator in Fine beam mode tape-recorded data. The additional Fine beam positions have the same image
characteristics (resolution and image size) but differ in the incidence angle and their position relative to
the ground track. These have been named "Shifted Beams" and are either shifted nearer to the ground
track from their original positions (eg., Fine 1 near /F1n) or farther from the ground track eg. Fine 1
far/ F1f).
Because of the reduction in width of some of the tape-recorded beam modes, it is important to assess
whether or not the data will be collected by direct downlink or by the on-board recorders. The following
beam positions will be affected if acquired on the on-board recorder:
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all Fine Beams

Wide Beam Position 2
ScanSAR Narrow A (slightly)
ScanSAR Narrow B
ScanSAR Wide A is never available as a recorded beam
Wide beam 3 is currently not recommended due to the presence of a nadir ambiguity in the data.
Although the data on either side of the ambiguity is not affected, the nadir ambiguity produces a very
bright vertical line in the image.
Due to spacecraft constraints, only four of the seven Extended beams are usually available. As of March
1 1997 the following Extended beams are available: Extended Low 1, Extended High 3, Extended High
4 and Extended High 6. Please check with your Client Services Representative on the availability of
these beams before ordering.
The following table provides a list of the available beam modes and positions and their corresponding
characteristics.
Operational Beam Mode
Beam
Position
Incidence Angle in
degrees
(Near - Far)
Nominal
Resolution
(m)
Nominal Area
(km)
Number of
Processing Looks
Fine
F1 near
F1
F1 far
F2 near
F2
F2 far
F3 near
F3
F3 far
F4 near
F4
36.4 - 39.6
36.8 - 39.9
37.2 - 40.3
38.8 - 41.8
39.2 - 42.1
39.6 - 42.5
41.1 - 43.7
41.5 - 44.0
41.8 - 44.3
43.1 - 45.5
43.5 - 45.8
50 x 50
1x1

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F4 far
F5 near
F5
F5 far
43.8 - 46.1
45.0 - 47.2
45.3 - 47.5
45.6 - 47.8
Standard
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
20-27
24-31
30-37
34-40
36-42
41-46
45-49
22
100 X 100
1x4
Wide
W1
W2
W3
20-31
31-39
39-45
30
165 x 165
150 x 150
130 x 130
1x4
ScanSAR Narrow
SNA
SNB
20-40
31-46
50
300 x 300
2x2
ScanSAR Wide
SWA
SWB
19-49
19-46
100
500 x 500
450 x 450
2x2
Extended High
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
49-52
50-53
52-55
54-57
56-58
57-59
25
75 x 75
1x4
Extended Low
L1
10-23
35
170 x 170
1x4
Note: The numbers shown are approximations. Please refer to RADARSAT Illuminated: Your Guide to Products & Services for a detailed definition of each beam mode and
position.

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Chapter 4
An Overview of the Swath Planning Process.....................................................
Understanding Key Terms
The terminology surrounding RADARSAT swath planning can sometimes be confusing to the new user.
The following terms are often used interchangeably, (and sometimes incorrectly) by the RADARSAT
user community:
Swaths, beam footprints, image strips and acquisition strips: these terms are all used to describe the
rectangular outline of a RADARSAT beam as it would appear on the ground if a line were drawn on the
ground marking the area imaged by the satellite.
Accessibility swath versus Image swath: these terms describe the difference between the area where
RADARSAT could possibly acquire data and the area where RADARSAT is actually programmed to
acquire data. In other words, accessibility swath refers to ALL of the image swaths available within any
one-accessibility swath. Image swath refers to ONE of the choices available within an accessibility
swath.
Example: The following graphic
displays two Standard beam mode
swaths over Atlantic Canada. The
swath on the right displays the outline
of the accessibility swath and all
seven-image swaths within the
Standard beam accessibility swath.
Note that there is overlap of
approximately 30 to 40 kilometres
between the different image swaths.
The swath on the left, (which is
available during a different orbit),
displays
the
outline
of
the
accessibility swath and only the Standard 4 image swath.
Beam mode versus Beam position: these terms are often used to describe the operating mode of the
satellite (defined by swath width and resolution, i.e., Standard, Fine or ScanSAR) versus the particular
incidence angle within an operating mode, i.e., Standard beam 2. Beam mode is synonymous with
accessibility swath and beam position is synonymous with image swath.
Beam versus Swath: these terms are used in the SPA to differentiate between accessibility swath/beam
mode and image swath/beam position.

Part 2 - Getting Started Chapter 4: An Overview of the Swath Planning Process
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Image Strips and Acquisition Strips: these terms are generally used to refer to swaths, which have
already been planned or acquired, and usually implies a fixed beam position.
Swath plan, acquisition plan, acquisition scenario, user request: these terms generally refer to groups
of swaths or single swaths which have been identified as the most optimal selection of swaths for a
particular purpose. A user request should refer specifically to the "html" file that is saved by the SPA,
which includes a swath plan or acquisition plan.
Key Concepts of RADARSAT Swath Planning

It is important to remember that although all of the beam positions in any one orbit of the accessibility
swath are obtainable, only one beam position can be imaged at any one time. You must therefore "tag"
or select an image swath from the accessibility swath you have generated over an area of interest.
There are two methods of generating acquisition swaths:
1. Generate a simulation which displays the entire accessibility swath for a given beam mode.
This method allows you to view all the beam positions and select the most suitable image
swath. This procedure often generates a cluttered display screen, making it difficult to
analyze.
2. Generate a simulation, which displays only a range of beam positions, by limiting the number
of beam positions or the range of incidence angles. This method generates an accessibility
swath, which is much easier to analyze, but it does require you to limit your preferred beam
position(s) and coverage area before beginning the simulation.
Understanding the Client's Data Needs

Clients will use SAR data to identify subjects or the state of subjects on the ground. The subjects could
include forest clear-cuts, lakes or flooded areas, agricultural fields, ships at sea, or large waves on the
ocean. It is important to understand the client's application and project to prepare a suitable acquisition
plan.
Some of the client's needs are:
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Accuracy (right coverage at the right time)

Low Cost (fewest possible images)
Timeliness (planning accomplished efficiently)
Information Content
Preparing an acquisition plan is often a repetitive process. The results from your first generation may
not provide the results you anticipated. You may find that you need to re-assess the generation
parameters for your second generation. For example, after analyzing a scenario, which was generated
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using Standard beam 4, it may be apparent that RADARSAT cannot achieve complete coverage of your
region in one orbit. You could then choose to begin a new scenario using Wide beam mode instead of
Standard (if a coarser resolution is acceptable) or agree to accept a wider range of incidence angles
(Standard beam 3 in addition to Standard beam 4) and a longer time period in which to acquire the data.
Basic Steps in Preparing an Acquisition Plan

After you have prepared a few acquisition plans using the RADARSAT Swath Planner, you will notice
that each session follows a standard sequence of steps:
1. Set Display and System Preferences
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Change screen colours, map projection and map scale

Select Geographic Overlays for your area of interest
Select Data Reception Facility (DRF) visibility masks (OPTIONAL)
Load Geographic Overlays
2. Define a Region File

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Create a polygon around the region of interest using latitude/longitude co-ordinates, political boundaries and/or
geographical boundaries
3. Generate Swaths or Search for Archived Data

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Enter acquisition parameters such as: Start and Stop time, Beam Mode and Beam Position(s)
Limit swath footprints to region files and/or DRF visibility masks currently loaded
Search the RADARSAT Archive for previously acquired image strips
4. Complete your Acquisition Plan

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Tag, Edit and Split swath footprints into individual image frames
Save completed acquisition plan as a User Request File.
Submitting your Acquisition Plan to RADARSAT International

Once you have determined your acquisition plan using the SPA, the plan must undergo further analysis
before the satellite is programmed to acquire your data or the archived data is ordered. Your acquisition
plan must now be submitted to the Acquisition Planning Department at RSI where the Acquisition
Planners will check for conflicts, verify availability of beam positions, ascertain that the selected beam
positions are suitable for the application and confirm availability of the dates for your acquisitions.
Also, acquisition plans that contain archived imagery must be checked to verify that the data is available
and that the selected beam positions are suitable for the application.
There are several methods by which you can submit your acquisition plan to RSI. You can translate the
results from your swath plan on to the RADARSAT Image Request Form and then transmit this form by
facsimile machine. You can use electronic mail by attaching the completed User Request file to your
email message (see "Saving and Managing Swath Acquisition Plans" in Chapter 8). In addition, some
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users, such as the Network Stations, have been supplied with the RADARSAT User Request Editor
(URE), and can submit completed User Request files electronically through the Internet.

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Part 3
Essential
Operations
Chapter 5
Selecting System and Display Preferences
Main Menu Bar Selections: FILE/Preferences and VIEW/Geographic Overlays
After installing the SPA, you may want to change some of the display preferences to suit your operating
and printing requirements. This chapter describes the steps available for customizing the SPA. Any
changes made will become the default measurement units for the remainder of the current planning
session. They will only become permanent if you select "YES" at the prompt "User preferences have
changed. Do you wish to save changes?" upon exiting.
Under the FILE/Preferences Menu, you can change the following settings:
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Colour and style assignments, units of time and geographic measurement
Available geographic overlays
System file locations
System Options
Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Preferences/Options
The following three system options can be changed to suit your different operating needs.
1. Arrow versus Cross-hair - sets the cursor display to be either an arrow or a cross-hair
2. Zero Doppler Position versus Beam Centre Crossing - sets the method of calculating and
displaying beam and swath footprints. The Zero Doppler Position method calculates frames
as perpendicular to the satellite ground track. This is a more accurate representation of the
actual area imaged on the ground but it takes longer to calculate. It is recommended that you
use the Beam Centre Crossing setting for most work (particularly when generating and
editing swaths) and switch only to the Zero Doppler Position setting when very accurate
geographic co-ordinates are required.
Q Please note: If the swath generation function seems extremely slow, verify that this option is set to Beam Centre Crossing, not Zero
Doppler Position
3. Area Coverage - sets the default method for calculating coverage over regions of interest. If
more than one region is open in a session, the SPA can calculate the percentage of the active
region, which is covered by swaths, or the percentage of all open regions, which are covered
by swaths.
4. User Request Save Region Options - sets the default method for saving region file with the
user request file. Four options are available. a/ Save all open Regions b/ Save selected
Part 3 Essential Operations Chapter 5: Selecting System and Display Preferences
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Region only (will save only the one region which is selected or no Region if none are selected) c/ Do Not Save
Region d/Save Acquisitions Region Only (will save all regions which are covered by
selected swath).
5. Swath Editing Preference - sets the default preference to edit swath. Either work with the
accessibility swath or with the beam position only.
Colour and Style Assignments of Display Features
Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours
After installation of the SPA, the default colour and style assignments of display features such as beam
footprints, geographic overlays and orbit tracks have been determined by the settings in the "SPA
preferences" file. This file optimizes the settings for analyzing and editing swath plans and for printing
and faxing swath plans. It is recommended that you work with these settings and become comfortable
with the operation of the SPA before changing any of the settings.
If you decide to change the default settings, the SPA allows you to determine the colour, thickness and
style of various features, such as background colour, grid lines, region outlines, etc. There are 48
different colours on the basic colour palette, 5 levels of line thickness (1 - thinnest, 5 - thickest), and five
different line styles (1 - solid line, 2 - small dotted line, 3 - dashed line, 4- dot dashed line, 5 - dot dot
dashed line) to choose from.
Changing Preferred Units for Area / Distance
1. Select FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours. The following dialogue box will appear:
2. The display features appear in a pick-list as in the dialogue box on the right. You can
pick a feature by highlighting it and then assign it colour, thickness and style. In the
example above, Background Colour is highlighted. Note that the box below the text will
change to display the current feature colour, width and style.
3. Click on the colour button and a colour palette will appear.
4. Click on the selected colour and then click on OK.
5. The Thickness and Style buttons toggle through several choices of thickness and style
(dotted, dashed, etc.)
6. Repeat for all features you wish to change.

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The default settings from the "SPA preferences" file are as follows:
Normal Operation Mode
Feature
Colour
Thickness
Style
Background
Colour
white
n/a
n/a
Grid Lines
light
grey 1
2 (dotted line)
Grid Labels
dark grey n/a
n/a
World Map
sea green
Selected Region
red
Unselected Region purple
DRF Mask
lime green
Ground Track
light blue
Orbit Number
dark grey
Requested Beam
dark pink
Requested Swath
dark grey*
Acquired Beam
lime green
Acquired Swath
lime green
Scheduled Beam
n/a
Scheduled Swath
n/a
Antarctic Beam
red
Antarctic Swath
red
Edited Beam
dark blue
Edited Swath
light blue
Conflict
red
1
2
2
2
1
n/a
2
1
1
1
1
2 (dotted line)
2 (dotted line)
2 (dashed line)
1
n/a
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Q Please note: If the outline of the Requested Swath is displayed, and you do not want it displayed on the screen, change the colour to white so that it will
disappear into the white background.
Time and Spatial Measurement Units

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Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours

The SPA allows you to change the default measurement units for time and spatial measurements used in
information displays, input boxes and calculations.
Changing Preferred Units for Area / Distance
1. Select FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours.
2. Click on the arrow button beside the Date/Time input box.
The following pick-list will appear:
UTC Time
Local Time
Absolute Orbit
Cycle / Orbit
UTC Time recently replaced Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the universal time standard
at the Prime Meridian. This is a good unit of time for preparing acquisition plans for
clients in different time zones, and for communicating image requirements to the RSI
Order Desk.
Local Time will set the display in the SWATH/Browse screen to show local time. This must
be defined by entering the difference between UTC and local time into the Local/UTC
Time Difference input box. (i.e., - if you wish to display the local time for images
acquired over Vancouver, BC, Canada, you will need to know the time difference
between Western Canada and UTC. For this example you would enter "-8.0" into the
Local/UTC Time Difference box.)
Absolute Orbit will set the display in the SWATH/Browse screen to show RADARSAT's
orbit numbers rather than a date and time. An "absolute orbit" number refers to the
number of orbits since the start of the RADARSAT mission, which was November 04,
1995.
Cycle/Orbit will set the display in the SWATH/Browse screen to show the number of the
current orbit cycle plus the number of relative orbits (between 0 and 343). The
cycle/orbit begins not on the first day of the RADARSAT mission, but on the first day
after the orbit was considered stable (December 05, 1995). The cycle/orbit system is a
more precise definition of an imaging period than the UTC time and is the standard unit
used in the various systems that communicate between Order Desks and the Mission
Management Office. In addition, the Cycle/Orbit unit is useful for comparing imaging
activities over multiple cycles as the orbit number remains the same over repeated cycles.
Q Please note:
Because of the difference in time between the first orbits of the satellite and the first stable orbits of the
RADARSAT mission, the conversion from relative cycle/orbits to absolute orbits is as follows:
(cycle number X 343) + # of relative orbits + 84 = absolute orbit example: cycle 18 orbit 290.345 to absolute
orbits is (18 X 343) + 290.345 + 84 = 6548.345

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3. Tag the desired measurement unit to change the current default value.
Changing Preferred Units for Area and Distance
2. Click on the arrow button beside the Area/Distance input box.
A pick-list will appear offering the following options:
Metric
Imperial
Changing Preferred Units for Latitude / Longitude
2. Click on the arrow button beside the Area/Distance input box.
A pick-list will appear offering the following options:
Decimal Degrees (e.g., 24.1234N, 12.3456E)
DD:MM:SS (e.g., 3424'33"N, 1234'56"E)
Changing the Default Generation Period
This parameter sets the default generation period for working with Region files and generating
swaths from the REGION operational mode. See Chapter 17 "Advanced Use of Region Files" for
details on this option.
Regional Geographic Overlays
Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays
The SPA has two different sets of overlays: a global coastline overlay and 17 regional overlays. The
global coastline (Mercator Projection) provides a general overview of the coastlines around the world.
The regional overlays are derived from the "Digital Chart of the World" and provide a more accurate
view of coastlines and other geographic features. At map scales larger than 1:10,000,000, you may
want to display the regional geographic overlays in order to view a more accurate drawing of coastlines
in your region of interest. You may also wish to view other geographical information, such as political
boundaries, key cities and hydrological features. However, drawing all five of the regional overlays at
scales smaller than 1:3,000,000 can be time-consuming and causes the screen to be cluttered with too
many lines. Working with the coastline and political boundaries is often sufficient at large scales.
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The naming convention used for geographic overlays is "name_#.geo"; where "name" refers to the
geographic area and "#" refers to the type of overlay:
1 - political borders
2 - coastlines
3 - rivers
4 - drainage basins/lakes
5 - geographic place names (text)
e.g., NAFRIC_2.GEO is the regional geographic overlay containing all the digitized coastlines
for North Africa.
The two most commonly used regional overlays are numbers 1 and 2. The overlays for rivers, drainage
basins and geographic place names are most useful at scales larger than 1:750,000.
Appendix C provides the name and geographic coverage for each of the regional geographic overlays
supplied with the SPA. You can also produce customized overlays using a licensed third party utility
program GPCT, available through Client Services.
Displaying Geographic Overlays
In order to display regional geographic overlays, you must perform the following three steps:
Step 1.
Step 2.
Step 3.
First make your desired overlays "available" to the SPA.

Then set the threshold scale, which determines whether the global coastline overlay,
or the regional overlays will be displayed.
Finally, "select" the overlays you wish to draw.
Step One: Making Overlays "Available" to the RADARSAT Swath Planner

1. Select Preferences/Geographic Overlays. The following dialogue box will appear:
2. Scroll
through
any
available overlays. (If
overlays are listed, then
they are available. Go
directly to Changing
Colour and Styles.)
3. To add an overlay,
which is currently not
available, choose Add
Overlay and select the
desired overlay filename
from the dialogue box
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that appears. You may need to select the path to the directory which contains your
geographic overlays (*.geo files), e.g., x:\spa\mapdata. You can change the default
directory by modifying the Map Files address from the FILE/Preferences/File Locations.
4. To set the colour, thickness and style of the overlays, highlight the desired overlay
filename in the listing of available Geographic Overlays, then click on the Colour button
below the overlay listing. Select the colour, thickness and line style desired for the
overlay.
Step Two: Changing World Map Threshold Scale
The threshold scale determines whether the World Map or the regional overlays are displayed.
If the current scale on the Map Window is smaller than the scale entered in the World Map
Threshold setting, the world map is drawn. If the current scale on the Map Window is larger than
the scale of the World Map Threshold setting, the regional overlays are drawn.
Example: If the current scale is 1:3,000,000, and the World Map Threshold scale is set at
1:2,000,000, the World Map will be displayed. If the current scale is 1:1,000,000, and the World
Map Threshold scale is set at 1:2,000,000, the regional overlays will be displayed. If no regional
overlay has been selected, and the current scale is larger than the World Map Threshold scale, no
map details will be displayed.
The largest scale available in the RADARSAT Swath Planner is 1:50,000 and the smallest scale
is 1:150,000,000. Therefore, if the World Map Threshold level is set to 1:50,000, the World Map
will always be displayed. Conversely, if the threshold level is set to 1:150,000,000 the regional
geographic overlays will be displayed.
1. Select FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays
2. Enter the smallest scale at which you want the World Map displayed.
Step Three: Selecting Overlays to be Drawn

Menu Bar Selection: VIEW/Geographic Overlays
1. Select VIEW/Geographic Overlays.
2. Highlight your preferred "available" overlay and click on the button. The overlay will
now be listed as "selected".
3. Repeat procedure for all other required overlays.
Q Please note: If no overlays are being drawn on the screen, first verify that the threshold level is set correctly (FILE/ Preferences/ Geographic
Overlays). Second, verify that the correct regional overlay has been made available and that a visible colour has been assigned to
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the overlay (FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays). And, third, verify that the regional overlay has also been selected
(VIEW/Geographic Overlays).
Q Please note: The more regional overlays that are "Selected", the longer the time required to draw the overlays. Keep unnecessary regional
overlays "Available" but not "Selected".
System File Locations

Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Preferences/File Locations
The location of some system files is also controlled in the FILE/Preferences menu under File Locations.
See Chapter 2 "Swath Planner File Types and Locations" for a description of the type and purpose of
these files and how to change their location. The following graphic shows the dialogue box for changing
the system file locations:

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Chapter 6
Managing the Map Display Options and Moving Around
the Display Screen
Main Menu Selections: VIEW/Display Options/Redraw Display/World Map/Select Window/Select Centre/Zoom
and EDIT/View/Region/Swath and VIEW/DRF
Changing Map Display Options

Menu Bar Selection: VIEW/Display Options
The Display Options dialogue box controls the projection used in the Map Display window, the centre
point of the display screen, the scale of the display and the features which will be displayed on the
screen.
Changing Display Options
1. Select View/Display Options. The following dialogue box will appear:
2. Change any
following
options:
of the
display
Projection: Controls the map projection used in the Map Display. Four projections are available:
World Mercator, Orthographic, Stereographic and Lambert Conic.
The World Mercator projection is available only for map displays of the entire globe. With this
projection, there is no ability to alter the scale or the centre point of the display.
The three other projections can be used at any scale.
Orthographic: A general purpose projection at all latitudes.
Stereographic: A projection used to view polar regions.
Part 3 Essential Operations - Chapter 6: Managing the Map Display Options and Moving Around the Display Screens
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Lambert Conic: A projection useful for mid-latitudes, but unsuitable for viewing polar regions.
Latitude and Longitude: This field allows the user to directly enter a specific location for the map
centre via the keyboard. Alternately, a click of the mouse on the globe (on the left) will update
the latitude/longitude fields and will redraw the globe with the specified location at dead centre.
Scale: The scale of the display can be set by manually entering the scale or by clicking on the
drop-down arrow button beside the scale box and choosing one of the pre-set scales from the
pick-list. Map scales are expressed as a ratio (e.g., 1:100,000).
The Display Options feature also allows you to select: or omit 9 the following map details from
the display screen:
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C
C
Gridlines (latitude and longitude grids)

Lat-Long grid annotation
DRF visibility masks (extent of ground receiving station masks)
Beam footprints
Ground track
Absolute orbit numbers
Frame number
Q Please Note: Displaying the ground track is useful when determining whether or not a swath can be acquired by direct downlink or the onboard recorder. Absolute orbit numbers can only be displayed when the ground track is displayed and helps to identify which
ground track relates to which swath and whether or not the ground track lies within the DRF. This type of analysis works best
when the Date/time units are also set to absolute orbits. It also helps to turn off the Lat-Long grid annotation.
Frame numbers appear in the centre of each swath or each frame when a swath has had Framing applied to it. When an
acquisition plan has many frames from several swaths, the Frame numbers can be hard to read. If this is the case, turning off the
Frame number option sometimes helps in the presentation of acquisition plan.
Moving Around the Map Display

Menu Bar Selection: VIEW/Select Window/Select Centre/Zoom
In addition to changing the map scale in Display Options to zoom in on an area of interest, you can also
change the map scale and centre point by using Select Window, Zoom and Select Centre.
Magnifying a Region of Interest using Select Window
1. Select VIEW/Select Window (or Ctrl-W).
2. The Status Bar will now indicate Select Window as the current mode. Now place the
cursor at the top left corner of the area of interest and drag the arrow to the bottom right
corner until a box is drawn which covers the area of interest. Release the mouse button.
The new scale and the latitude/longitude co-ordinates of the point defined by the cursor are
displayed in the Status Bar.
If you are using a large scale, you may wish to display the regional overlays. The regional
6-2
overlays display map features at a scale suitable for detailed work.

Changing Map Scale using Zoom
1. Select View/Zoom, then a % factor. For example, to reduce the map scale by one-half
(e.g., from 1:100,000 to 1:200,000), choose 50%. Choosing Zoom 25% will cause the
display to zoom out by a factor of four. Choosing Zoom 300%, on the other hand will
zoom in by a factor of three.
Changing the Map centre
1. Select VIEW/Select Map Centre (or Ctrl-C).
2. The Status Bar will change to indicate that the operating mode has changed to Select Map
Centre. Place the cursor on the point you wish to define as the new centre point and click
the right mouse button.
The scale will not change but the centre point will. The new latitude/longitude co-ordinates of
the point defined by the cursor are displayed in the Status Bar.
Redrawing the Map Display
Menu Bar Selection: VIEW/World Map/Redraw Display
After zooming in and out around the Map Display or tagging and editing swaths, it is helpful to be able
to redraw the screen without losing any work that has been done. There are two slightly different ways
to accomplish this.
You can quickly refer to the World Map projection by using the World Map option.
Changing Map Projection to World Map
1. Select VIEW/ World Map.
The display screen will revert to the Mercator projection of the World Map.
After several iterations of an acquisition plan, your map display will become difficult to read.
By refreshing the map display, all lines will be redrawn without affecting the original map scale
and centre point.
Refreshing the Map Display
1. Select VIEW/Redraw Display.
Operating Modes
Menu Bar Selection: EDIT/View/Region/Swath

6-2
Version 2.8R1 introduces three new distinct operating modes: VIEW, REGION and SWATH. Within each
of these operating modes, different tasks can be performed and mouse keys take on different meanings.
These operating modes can be accessed by the EDIT option on the main menu bar or by short-cut keys.
The middle section of the Status Bar indicates which operating mode is currently selected.
VIEW - when in VIEW mode, the functions controlling the screen display are accessible. Clicking on the
right mouse brings up a pop-up menu with the following options:
World Map
Select Window
Select Centre
Zoom...
Display Options
Redraw Display
The VIEW operating mode is the default-operating mode. It is activated when you first open the SPA. At
any other time, it can be accessed by selecting EDIT/View or by using the short-cut key "F2".
REGION - when in REGION mode, the functions controlling regions are accessible. Clicking on the right
mouse button brings up a pop-up menu with the following options:
New
Edit
Digitize...
Next
Delete
Browse
Information
Client Info...
Generate...
The REGION operating mode can be accessed by selecting EDIT/Region or by using the short-cut key
"F3". See Chapter 7 for further details about the functions of the REGION mode.
SWATH - when in SWATH mode, the functions applied to analyzing, tagging and editing swaths are
accessible. Clicking on the right mouse brings up a pop-up menu with the following options:
Tag swath
Edit swath
Split Swath
Edit frame
Framing...
Next
Delete
View Only
Copy Forward
Browse
Information.
6-2
The SWATH operating mode can be accessed by selecting EDIT/Swath or by using the short-cut key "F4".
Within the SWATH operating mode are two additional sub-operating modes: TAG SWATH (short-cut key
"F5") and EDIT SWATH (short-cut key "F6"). In both mode the user is able to toggle through available
beam positions within an accessibility swath by using the "Tab" or "Shift + Tab" key. By using the "F10"
key, the user is able to toggle through overlying accessibility swaths. See Chapter 8 for further details
concerning the functions of the SWATH mode.
Displaying RADARSAT Data Reception Facility (DRF) Visibility Masks

Menu Bar Selection: VIEW/DRF Visibility
The SPA enables you to display the Data Reception Facility (DRF) visibility masks for all of the
networks stations capable of receiving RADARSAT data. The DRF mask is an outline on the ground
that delineates the area of the Earth over which the RADARSAT satellite can communicate with the
corresponding DRF. Whenever the RADARSAT ground track falls within the DRF mask, RADARSAT
can transmit the data directly to the DRF.
Should your region of interest fall outside any of the DRF visibility masks, RADARSAT's on-board tape
recorders will be activated to store the image data until it can be downlinked to a receiving station.
Determining whether or not an acquisition lies within a mask is important because direct downlink
versus tape recording can influence the width of the beam, the amount of time required to deliver the
data and the level of processing available. We recommend that you use the DRF mask for initial
analysis only. The Acquisition Planning Department at RSI will make the final determination on
whether an acquisition is direct downlinked or recorded.
Selecting DRF Visibility Masks for Display
1. Select VIEW/DRF Visibility.
2. From the pick-list of available DRF visibility masks, highlight the DRF mask which you
wish to select and click on the button. It will now be listed as "selected".
3. You now need to check the option Restrict Generation to DRF Line of Sight in the
SWATH/Generate screen and the generation of swaths (in the SWATH/Generate function)
will be restricted to only those swaths which are accessible to one of the selected DRFs.
Q Please Note:
Using the DRF mask alone does not give a completely accurate view of the data acquisitions, which can be
direct downlinked. The RADARSAT satellite does not look straight down, but to the right of the ground track
by as much as 800 kilometres. So, depending upon the pass direction and imaging mode, acquisition strips
which appear to be within the mask may actually be outside of the mask because the ground track is outside of
the mask and vice versa.

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Chapter 7
Regions of Interest
Main Menu Selections: REGION/New/Open/Open_All/Save /EditDigitize/Browse/Information
The REGION menu allows the user to manage, create, edit, and retrieve information on regions of interest
within the SPA. In order to generate an acquisition plan, you need to define the boundaries of the region
to be imaged. You can define a region using three methods:
1. Manually type the vertices of the region;
2. Automatically generate a circular region by specifying a centre point and radius;
or
3. Manually digitize the vertices of the region.
Once the region of interest has been identified and saved in the SPA, you can search the catalogue for
archived imagery, generate image swaths for that region, determine tentative acquisition dates and times,
and calculate the number of images required.
Q Please Note: In the SPA, a region is a closed polygon on the Earth's surface defined by a series of lat-long pairs, which specify the vertices of the
polygon. Regions can be almost any shape and may contain thousands of points.
If the vertices of the region are entered in a COUNTER-CLOCKWISE direction, the SPA will generate image swaths for that region only.
If the vertices are entered in a CLOCKWISE direction, the SPA will generate swaths both inside and outside of the region of interest.
Creating Region Files

Menu Bar Selections: REGION/New/Digitize
Method 1 - Manually Typing Polygon Vertices
Menu Bar Selection: REGION/New
A common method of creating region files is to type the precise geographical coordinates of corner
points of the region using the Polygon/Circle Editor.
Typing Vertices
1. Select REGION/New. The following
dialogue box will appear:
2. In the POLYGON section of the
dialogue box, input the lat/long
coordinates of each vertex of your
region in a counter-clockwise
order.
To enter coordinate pairs in
Decimal:Degrees use the following
format:
Part 3 Essential Operations Chapter 7: Regions of Interest
7-1
23.8N 110.8E (place one space between the pair, and hit return after each pair)
20.8N 110.8E
20.8N 112.8E
23.8N 112.8E
To enter co-ordinate pairs in Degrees use the following format:
23:48:00N 110:48:00E (place one space between the pair, and hit return after 20:48:00N
110:48:00E each pair)
20:48:00N 112:48:00E
23:48:00N 112:48:00E
Use Cut, Copy and Paste to reduce the amount of data entry required. Use Undo to
reverse your last edit.
3. After entering co-ordinates, click on OK. A Save Region dialogue box will appear where
you may enter the complete file and path
name of the new region. If there are
typographical errors or the co-ordinates are
entered in an incorrect sequence, you will be
unable to save the region file and will be
prompted to re-enter the co-ordinates.
Method 2 - Generating Circular Regions
Menu Bar Selection: REGION/New
A second common method of creating regions is to enter the lat/long. Co-ordinates of a centre point and
the radius of a circle to create a circular region around the centre point.
Entering centre point and radius
1. Select REGION/New.
2. In the CIRCLE box, input the lat/long co-ordinates of the centre point. Enter the units in
the measurement type selected in FILE/Preferences.
3. Enter the desired radius in distance.
4. Select Generate to create the region with the number of segments indicated. (A maximum
of 360 segments can be generated for a circle.)
5. Click on OK and then enter the complete file and path name Save Region dialogue box.
Method 3 - Digitizing Regional Vertices
Menu Bar Selection: REGION/Digitize
7-1
You can also input the approximate geographical co-ordinates for each vertex of a region by using the
mouse as a digitizing puck. This is a fast, satisfactory method to create a region, which is defined by
approximate co-ordinates or by geographical/political features and boundaries.
Digitizing Vertices
1. Select REGION/Digitize/New.
2. Place the cursor in the top left corner of the region to be digitized and click the left mouse
button. (The co-ordinates of the arrow are displayed in the Status Bar.)
3. Move the arrow to the next point on the polygon to be defined and click the left mouse
button once again.
4. Continue in this manner in a counter-clockwise direction until the region is almost
encircled. The SPA will then close the polygon by drawing in the segment between the
first and last point digitized. If the individual segments of the polygon cross themselves,
the SPA will be unable to save the region.
5. When all vertices have been digitized, select Digitize/Accept. Enter the complete file and
path name in the Save Region dialogue box and click on OK.
Editing Region Files

Menu Bar Selection: REGION/Edit and REGION/Digitize/Selected
There are two methods of editing region files once they have been created and saved. You can use the
Polygon/Circle Editor to edit vertices of polygon or you can use the screen and short-cut keys to visually
edit the line segments of the polygon.
Editing a Region using the Polygon/Circle Editor
1. Select the REGION/Edit.
2. Modify, add or delete any polygon co-ordinates as required.
3. Select OK and then REGION/Save As and enter the complete file and path name in the
Save Region dialogue box.
Editing a Region using the Digitizing Editor
1. Select REGION/Browse, then Selected.
2. Using the right mouse button, select either Next (short-cut key "F10") or Delete to remove
any undesired polygon segments.
3. Using the mouse, re-digitize the region as required.
7-1
4. Select OK and then REGION/Save As and enter the complete file and path name in the
Save Region dialogue box.
Saving Region Files

Menu Bar Selection: REGION/Save As
Region files are permanently saved to the specified directory when you enter the file name in the Save
Region dialogue box. However, if you edit a region file and wish to keep the changes, you must select
REGION/Save As to save the changes.
Region files are also saved in the User Request file when a region is used in the SWATH/Generate
function. If only one region file is open at the time a User Request is saved, it will be the only region
file saved in the User Request. If multiple region files are open at the time the User Request is saved, all
open region files will be saved in the User Request.
Managing Region Files

Menu Bar Selection: REGION/Open/Open_All/Browse/Information
Once you have created and saved a region from a previous session, you may need to re-open it in a new
session. Under some circumstances, you may wish to open multiple region files. You can open multiple
region files if they have all been stored in the same directory.
Opening a Single Existing Region File
1. Select REGION/Open. The following dialogue box will appear:
2. Highlight the region you
wish to open and click
on OK.
Opening Multiple Region Files

1. Select REGION/Open All. The following dialogue box will appear:

7-1
2. Select the complete path

name of the directory
which stores all the
region files you wish to
open. Click on OK. All
the region files in the
named directory will be
opened.
It is often necessary to view which regions are currently open in a session, to delete certain
regions from a session and to determine which region is currently the active region. An active
region is the region over which swaths will be generated and the region for which swath
coverage statistics will be calculated.
Browsing Current Open Regions
1. Select REGION/Browse and the following screen will be displayed:
2. The highlighted region
is the current active
region.
Designating a Region as "Active"

1. Select REGION/Browse, use the cursor and right mouse button to highlight the region file
you wish to designate as active.
2. If the active region is not currently displayed in the SPA window, you will be asked if you
wish to change the display scale and centre point to view the new region.
Deleting a Region

7-1
1.
Select REGION/Browse, use the cursor and right mouse button to highlight the region file
you wish to delete and click on the Delete button. The region will be deleted from the
current session, but will not be deleted from your region directory.
Viewing Regional Information

This option gives information on the region name, the area of the region, the amount of
coverage achieved over the region and the number of tagged swaths overlying the region. The
FILE/Preferences/Options menu controls which of the following two kinds of calculation will be
performed:
The percentage of the active region that is covered by the swath plan, or
the percentage of all opened regions that is covered by the swath plan.
1. Select REGION/Information. The following dialogue box will appear:

7-1
Chapter 8
Generating a Swath Acquisition Plan
Main Menu Selections: SWATH/... and FRAMING/...
Once you have created a region file, you can begin the process of preparing an acquisition plan for
RADARSAT imagery. An acquisition plan may contain both future acquisitions and archived
acquisitions. This chapter covers generating acquisition plans that contain future acquisitions, including
how to select the appropriate swath generation constraints. It also covers selecting beam positions,
editing and framing image swaths and assessing potential overall coverage. This second group of topics
also applies to acquisition plans that contain archived imagery. If you need a review of the key concepts
related to Swath Planning, re-read Chapter 4 "An Overview of the Swath Planning Process".
Swath Generation Constraints

The act of generating swaths for a given client or order is normally constrained by one or more
parameters. This speeds-up the process of acquisition planning by reducing the number of swath
footprints which need to be evaluated. The SPA allows the user to :
specify a time interval
specify the geographic region of interest
specify the imaging mode
specify a range of beam positions an/or incidence angles
specify pass direction (ascending, descending or both), and;
limit the swaths to a specific DRF
Generating Swaths
Menu Bar Selection: SWATH/Generate
1. Select
SWATH/Generate
and
the
following
dialogue box will appear:
2. Enter the appropriate
constraint parameters for
each section of the
dialogue box.
The
following descriptions of
the constraint parameters
will help you to decide
how to fill in each box.
Part 3 Essential Operations Chapter 8: Generating a Swath Acquisition Plan
8-1
Generation Period can be entered as either a range of dates/time, a range of orbit cycles/relative
orbits, or a range of absolute orbits. Select the
Generation Period mode from the pick-list available (UTC Time, Local Time, Absolute Orbit or Cycle/Orbit)
and enter the desired Start and Stop values. Enter a range of dates if the client has defined a specific time
period for the acquisition. Enter one complete repeat cycle (343 orbits or 24 days) to yield all possible imaging
opportunities.
Q Please note:
The Reset to Epoch button resets the start and stop times to the point in the RADARSAT mission when the orbit was
considered stable. In UTC time, this is December 04, 1995 at 10:06:24. In cycle/relative orbit, this is Cycle 1 orbit 1.
In Absolute orbits, this is absolute orbit 427.
Region allows the user to select a region from the list of regions currently open. Scroll
through the list of open region files and select the desired region of interest from the pick-list.
Q Please note:
If you generate without selecting a region or if the vertices of your region have been entered incorrectly (in a clockwise
direction), the SPA will generate swaths over the entire world.
Mode can be selected from the pick-list of RADARSAT beam modes: Fine, Standard, Wide,
ScanSAR Narrow, ScanSAR Wide, Extended High or Extended Low.
Beam allows you to limit the range of beam positions from the total range available for the
specified beam mode. It is not necessary to limit the beam position but in some cases, it can
make the tagging and analysis of swath plans easier.
Direction can be selected to limit look direction to Ascending only (east looking), Descending
only (west looking), or both Ascending and Descending.
Signal MUST be selected to indicate whether the signal is acquired by direct downlink
(Realtime) or acquired on the on-board recorder (Recorded). This is particularly important for
beam modes, which are narrower when acquired on the on-board recorder. These beam
modes are all fine beams, Wide Beam 2, ScanSAR Narrow B and ScanSAR Wide, which is
not available if the on-board recorder is required. When the Recorded signal is selected, the
beam footprints will appear narrower and they will be labelled as "OBR" beams.
Fixed Gain: The Radar incorporates an automatic gain control to set the recorded signal
intensity range whenever it is in imaging mode. It works on a range line basis, but
unfortunately the software does not sample the entire range line. Instead, it uses the first 1/3
of the range line to compute its "setting" but then applies the result to the entire range line.
This will create a problem for the system when the first 1/3 of the image varies considerably
in intensity form the rest of the line. For instance, whenever an image is acquired with water
(dark) in the near range and land (bright) in the far range, the system does not set itself
correctly and the land will appear darker than it should. The dynamic range of the features
being imaged over the land will not be correctly represented. In order to avoid this problem
you may choose to select a Fixed Gain for the whole image.
8-1
Restrict Generation to Inner/Outer Incidence Angles can be used instead of selecting beam
positions if you know the precise inner and outer incidence angle of the beam positions you
want to use. To activate this option, put an X in the box beside the title bar.
Q Please note:
This box is automatically updated each time you enter a new beam positions in the Beam section of the dialogue box.
This is a quick way to find the incidence angle of a beam position.
Restrict Generation to DRF Line of Sight can be used to restrict generation of swaths to those
which fall within an open Data Reception Facility mask (also see 'Chapter 6: Displaying
DRF Masks' for further details on working with a DRF).
3. Select SWATH/Generate to begin the swath generation. Swaths will be generated for the
region selected and will be displayed on the screen in chronological order.
Analyzing Swaths
Menu Bar Selection: SWATH/Tag Swath/Edit Swath
Once the accessibility swaths have been generated, completing the acquisition plan requires that each of
these swaths be evaluated to see if it contains a suitable image swath. There are four basic operations
involved in analyzing swaths:
Selecting and Viewing Swaths
Tagging Swaths
Deleting Swaths
Untagging Swaths
REMINDER: For each accessibility swath, only one image swath (beam position) can be
selected. Alternatively, if none of the image swaths (beam positions) suit the application, the
accessibility swath can be deleted from the swath plan. Once an image swath is determined to be
included in the swath plan, the image swath then needs to be selected. Selecting an image swath
(beam position) for inclusion in a swath plan is called "tagging".
REMINDER: Accessibility Swath refers to all possible image swaths within a defined beam
mode (or all possible image swaths within a pre-defined range of beam positions within a beam
mode). Image Swath refers to the beam position, which would result from choosing one of the
available beam positions.
A simple swath plan will be used in the following pages to illustrate the four basic functions of
analyzing swaths. This swath plan illustrates the results of generating swaths in Wide Beam positions 1
and 2 in ascending passes over a small region of interest drawn over Havana, Cuba. The client wants to
purchase only one wide beam image with a specific 7-day period. The generation period was restricted
to 7 days (Feb03, 1997 to Feb10, 1997). This generation resulted in two potential swaths.
8-1
When the SPA has completed a generation, the swath footprints of all swaths that have met the
constraint parameters will be displayed. The operating mode will be SWATH MODE (check the middle
section of the Status Bar).
Selecting and Viewing Swaths

To determine which image swath or beam position, if any, is suitable from each of the
accessibility swaths, each swath must be viewed individually.
1. Click with the mouse button on the first swath you want to view. This highlights the
accessibility swath (changes the colour to light blue), shows the beam positions within
the accessibility swath and changes the operating mode to TAG SWATH. The status of this
accessibility swath is now referred to as an "Edited Swath". The following information
concerning the swath is now displayed on the bottom left hand corner of the Status Bar:
"no beam RT A 1997-Feb-05 23:26:07.34 23:26:22.17 00:00:14.82"
This information reveals that a beam position has not yet been tagged, the acquisition is in
realtime and the acquisition is from an ascending pass on 05-Feb-1997. The first time refers to
the start time; the second time refers to the end time; and the third time refers to the duration of
the imaging activity.

8-1
Q Please note:
If the swath that you wish to view is covered by swaths on top of it, select SWATH mode ("F4"), followed by EDIT/Next to
scroll through overlying swaths. Or you can hit the F10 key (Next).
2. Click a second time inside the swath and the underlying beam position will become
highlighted (changes the colour to dark blue indicating that the beam position has now
become an "Edited Beam"). The swath information on the bottom right hand of the
screen is now changed from "no beam" to "W1" indicating that the Wide 1 beam position
is now selected.

8-1
3. If you wish to view the other possible beam positions for this accessibility swath, hit the
tab key. This will allow you to toggle through all the available beam positions within the
accessibility swath.
Tagging Swaths
1. When you have chosen the beam position you want, click outside the swath footprint to
tag the desired beam position. The selected beam position will change colour to pink,
indicating the beam has become a "Requested" (tagged) beam.
2. Continue analyzing each accessibility swath until you have tagged one image swath in
each accessibility swath.
In this example, the Wide Beam Position 1 from the swath on the right is the only beam
portion we want to tag.
Q Please note:
Unless a swath is tagged it will not be saved to the user request file when a save is performed.
Q Please note:
Often a mouse click will select a different swath from the one you had intended. If you select the wrong swath, use the
F10 or tab key to cycle through overlying swaths or click outside all the swaths to de-select. Where several swath
outlines overlap, the SPA will choose the swath with the lower sequence number.
Q Please note:
To select a swath, you may click anywhere on the grey swath outline, not just on the tagged beam. This gives you more
freedom to choose a spot that is uncluttered, such as the swath corner.

8-1
Deleting Swaths
1. Accessibility swaths that do not contain useful image swaths can be deleted. There are
three ways to delete swaths. While the swath is selected, select EDIT/Delete; hit the
Delete on your keyboard; or select SWATH/Browse/Delete.
Q Please note:
Although it is not necessary to delete unwanted accessibility swaths, it can keep the screen clearer and simpler to
analyze; however, once a swath has been deleted, it can not be retrieved.
Q Please note:
Ctrl + Delete Keys will delete all swaths previously generated.
Untagging Swaths
Untagging swaths is sometimes preferable to deleting swaths from the swath plan. Untagged
swaths remain accessible to the swath plan until the swaths are cleared form the current session.
1. To untag a tagged swath, click once in the centre of the tagged beam position. The colour
will change to dark blue indicating the image swath is now untagged but is still selected
(an "Edited Beam").
2. Click once again in the middle of the image swath. The colour will change again to light
blue indicating that the image swath is no longer selected.
Using the BROWSE and INFORMATION Screens

Menu Bar Selection: SWATH/Browse/Information
In addition to visually evaluating swaths, the Browse Swaths screen and the Information screen can also
provide information relative to swath analysis. The Browse Swaths screen displays information on a
swath level, in either a condensed format or a long version. The Information screen displays information
on the entire swath plan. Additionally, the Browse Swaths screen gives access to some editing functions
(View and Delete). To activate the Browse Swaths screen:
1. Select SWATH/Browse. The following dialogue box will appear:

8-1
This graphic illustrates the condensed version of the Browse Swaths screen. It displays the acquisition
date and start time, the pass direction, the duration of the imaging activity, the beam mode and beam
position. If the beam position has not yet been selected the text will read "no beam", if a beam position
has been selected, the beam position, "W1" will be displayed.
2. To view the longer version, use the left mouse button and double-click on the swath you
are
interested in.
This graphic illustrates the additional information, which is displayed in the long version. :
the number of frames in the swath, the type of acquisition (realtime or placed on the on-board
recorder - OBR) and the frame count number (i.e. - frame 1 of 2 frames in the entire
acquisition plan.)
8-1
Q Please note:
The format of the information (whether the date or orbit cycle is displayed) is controlled by the display preferences you
have specified in FILE/preferences (see 'Chapter 5 Selecting System and Display Preferences').
In addition to providing the specifics outlined above, the Browse Swaths screen can also be used
to quickly evaluate the following:
-
verify that all swaths have been tagged (those swaths that have a beam position selected
are tagged swaths)
verify that all swaths have been assigned the correct beam position
determine the length of time to acquire an image
determine if the length of time of an image completes an entire frame
determine the total number of frames in an acquisition plan
determine if a swath is set to View Only
The Browse Swaths screen can be used to access the following edit functions:
- view a particular swath (highlight the desired swath and select View)
- delete a particular swath (highlight the undesired swath and select Delete)
The Information Screen contains additional information relevant to the acquisition plan. To access
the Information Screen,
1. Select
SWATH/Information.
The following screen
will be displayed:
This screen reveals that two swaths have been generated for this swath plan; that one of the
swaths has been tagged; and that there are no swaths which do not cover the currently selected
region of interest.
Framing and Editing Image Swaths

Menu Bar Selection: FRAMING/Standard Georeferenced and SWATH/Edit Swath
The last step in preparing your acquisition plan is to frame and then edit the image swaths. Once an
image swath has been selected, it must then be broken into frames (also referred to as scenes) and
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centred over the client's region of interest. A frame is a unit of the image swath, which is processed for
commercial distribution. There are four options available from the Framing menu:
None - this option cancels previously applied framing.
Standard Georeferenced - this is the most common framing option for order processing in
Canada. Standard georeferenced framing implies a 1:1 ratio of width to height, and enforces an
overlap between adjacent frames. This is the Framing option used at RADARSAT International
to determine frame numbers and pricing for an acquisition plan.
ICEC Georeferenced - this is the framing standard for ScanSAR (multiple beam) order processing
by the Ice Centre of Environment Canada). This framing ensures zero overlap between adjacent
frames.
Geocoded - this framing standard is used to frame imagery for geocoded image processing in
Canada (this is currently not in use).
Once framing has been applied, the swath must be edited for position and length. To ensure that the
correct number of frames is assigned to any one swath, framing should be done before editing. Editing
should ensure that there is sufficient coverage over edges of a region of interest and that all frames are
complete frames. Optimal framing is maximum regional coverage with a minimum number of frames.
Framing Image Swaths
1. From the Status Bar, verify that you are in SWATH mode.
2. Click on a swath so that it is a selected swath, then select FRAMING/Georeferenced. This
will apply framing to the single swath that has been selected.
3. If you wish framing to be applied to all of the swaths in the acquisition plan, ensure that
no swath are tagged, then select FRAMING/Georeferenced, and select OK from the dialog
requesting: Apply to all swaths?
Framing bars and frame numbers will now be displayed on each swath that has been
framed. If frame numbers do not appear, ensure VIEW/Display Options/Display Frame
Numbers has been activated.
Editing Image Swaths
The figure shown on the next page illustrates two fine beam image swaths after framing has
been applied but before the frames have been edited. Both swaths contain two frames. Note
that there is an overlap between vertically adjacent frames. Both image swaths need to be
edited to ensure that all frames in the swath are complete, and that swaths are centred over
the region of interest;
The swath on the left contains 2 frames; however, frame number 2 covers the ocean which is
outside the region of interest. Therefore this swath can be shortened to contain only one
frame.
8-1
1. Select SWATH/Edit swath (or use the F6 key), then click on the swath you want to
shorten. The Status Bar will confirm that the edit mode is selected.
2. With the left mouse button, click just below the top of the swath. A horizontal
"editing" line will appear. As long as you are within one-third of the swath length
from the end of the swath, the SPA will recognize that you are trying to adjust that
end.
3. Drag this line just below the overlap from the frame below. Ensure that the new
frame dimensions are as close as possible to a complete frame.
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The figures below illustrate the image swath on the left after it has been correctly and
incorrectly edited. (Only one frame is required to image the region of interest under the
westerly image swath.)
Correctly Framed
Incorrectly Framed
After editing a swath so that it contains the correct number of complete frames, adjust the
swath position to best cover the region of interest. The start and stop times can be modified
to move the image swath up or down; however, remember that an image swath can not be
adjusted horizontally (except by completely changing the beam position).
The image swath on the left is in a good position to cover the Southwest corner of the island,
and is therefore complete for inclusion in the acquisition plan. The image swath on the right,
however, requires editing or repositioning. The next figure shows the easterly image swath
after editing it to contain two complete image swaths. Note that approximately 30% of frame
#3 is over the ocean. If this entire swath is repositioned, both frames 2 and 3 will be centred
more evenly over the region of interest. (That is, re-define the start and stop times of the
image swath by shortening and/or extending the swath where necessary to make it a centred
swath with two complete frames.)
Image swaths containing correct number of

frames, but not positioned evenly
Image swaths containing correct number of

frames and correct positioning

8-1
Advanced Editing of Image Swaths

Menu Bar Selection: Swath/Split Swath/View Only/ Edit properties/Copy forward/ copy Backward/
Accessibility swath Vs Beam Posistion and EDIT/Delete all
Working on more advanced swath plans may require the use of three additional functions available
within the SWATH menu and one option from the EDIT menu. These are Splitting swaths, setting swaths to
View Only and using the Copy Forward, Copy Backward function, Delete All, toggling from Accessibility swath
to beam position.
Splitting an Image Swath
Splitting swaths is common where a user may not want all of the data within a swath. This
would commonly occur over a bay where the user is interested in imagery over land but not
water.
A swath can be broken into two swaths by indicating a point along the swath where the cut
should be made. After the swath has been split, the ends can be adjusted to close the frame.
1. Select the swath to be split.
2. Select SWATH/Split Swath (or while already in SWATH Mode use the F7 key)
3. Click with the left mouse button inside the swath that you want to split.
The cursor will remain in Split Swath mode until a different mode (Tag Swath or Edit Swath)
is chosen.
Setting Swaths to View Only
When swaths are set to VIEW Only, none of the regular editing functions (edit, frame, split,
delete) will work on those swaths. Setting swaths to View Only is helpful when analyzing
complex swath plans. It is useful to set one swath (or a sub-set of swaths) as View Only in order
to edit swaths, change beam positions or delete the swaths surrounding the View Only swath(s).
To set a swath as View Only:
1. Check the Status Bar to ensure that you are in SWATH Mode.
2. Use the left mouse button to select the desired swath (the swath will turn to dark blue)
OR select SWATH/Browse and highlight the desired swath.
3. Once the swath is selected, chose SWATH/View Only or use the short-cut key "Ctrl=V".
4. To verify if a swath has been set to View Only, select SWATH/Browse. Then highlight the
swath in question. The Delete key will change from bold print to lighter shade of grey.
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Q Please note :
If you can not edit, frame or delete a swath, it may be because the swath is set to View Only.
Edit swath properties

When the swath has been generated, you may want to change the Gain form Automatic to Fixed.
Planning Procedures
1. Plan the swath and image normally using the swath planner. It is imperative that the
current configuration file be used.
2. Overlay a detailed coastline and include major rivers and lakes.
3. Identify the near range half of the image i.e. the half closest to the satellite ground track.
4. Observe the planned image frames either on the screen or, preferably, on a plot. By moving
down the planned image in the along track direction, determine if a line can be drawn
anywhere in the image from the near edge of the frame to the midpoint in range that is
completely over water. The line must be perpendicular to the near edge of the image (i.e.
parallel to the look direction).
5. If such a line cannot be drawn anywhere in the image, or if the application is ocean
features, then proceed normally.
6. If such a line can be drawn anywhere in the planned image, then request Manual setting
with a value of 16 in the Swath Properties menu list.
Using Delete All

Using Delete All is a quick way to clear the current screen of swaths without having to reload the
region file that is currently open. To delete all swaths in a plan:
1. Select EDIT/Delete All or use the short-cut key "Ctrl-Delete"
Delete All is also useful for deleting multiple swaths but not all swaths in a plan.
1. Set the swaths you want to keep to View Only.
2. Select EDIT/Delete All or use the short-cut key "Ctrl-Delete"
Copy Forward
Copy forward simply takes the selected swath and copies it forward exactly 24 days (one
complete cycle). This is often a quick way to move a swath froward when it is determined that
the earlier date is not available or for some monitoring projects where multiple acquisition dates
over the exact same target are wanted.
1. Select the swaths you want to Copy Forward.

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2. Once the swath is selected, choose SWATH/Copy forward. The original swath will remain
in the swath plan and a new swath (with a date of 24 days later) will be added.
Copy Backward
Works as Copy Forward, but create a new swath 24 days sooner.
the
Accessibility Swath vs. Beam Position:

These two options will change the method of displaying a swath. If Beam Position is selected, a
tagged beam will display only the tagged beam position when with Accessibility swath selected,
whole accessibility swath will be displayed.
Saving and Managing Swath Acquisition Plans
Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Save/Save As/New/Open/Import UR
After tagging, framing and editing the image swaths, you will need to save your refined acquisition plan.
This saved acquisition plan is now referred to as a User Request file. This User Request file is in Hyper
Text Mark-up format (*.htm). This file can then be re-opened in future sessions, and also imported into
the RADARSAT User Request Editor for communication to the RSI Order Desk.
Saving a Newly Created Acquisition Plan
1. Select FILE/Save As. The following dialogue box will be displayed:
2. Use the scroll buttons
in the two right boxes
to select the correct
drive and directory,
and then enter the
desired *.htm filename
into the File Name
field.
3. Select OK to save the
acquisition plan.
Saving an Existing Acquisition Plan

1. Select FILE/Save. The following dialogue box will be displayed:

8-1
2. Select Yes if you wish

to update the existing
*.htm file. (Request,
Frame and Table files
are sub-files of the
overall *.htm file.)
Clearing the current session of Acquisition Plans

Once you have worked with or saved an acquisition plan you may want to clear the current SPA
session of all region files and swaths.
1. Select FILE/New.
Use the Windows File Manager to permanently delete an acquisition plan from your hard drive.
1. Select FILE/Open to clear a SPA session of all region files and swaths and also open a new
existing user request. You will be prompted to enter the directory and file name of the
existing User Request.
Adding an Existing User Request to the current Acquisition Plan
This option allows you to add an existing User Request to the current acquisition plan
WITHOUT losing the current swaths or regions.
1. Select FILE/Import UR and enter the directory and file name of the existing User Request.

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Chapter 9
Searching the RADARSAT Archive
Main Menu Selection: SWATH/Generate.../Search Catalogue
RADARSAT International's Search Catalogue is a powerful yet simple method of searching the
catalogue of archived RADARSAT imagery. The Search Catalogue option works in much the same way
as the SWATH/Generate option. Once a region has been opened and selected, you can search for specific
beam modes over specific periods of time. To create an acquisition plan with archived swaths, swaths
must be evaluated and selected and then edited and framed in the same way that future acquisitions are.
Final acquisition plans may contain both future acquisitions and acquisitions from the archive.
As with generating swaths in the future, the Search Catalogue tool is provided for preparing preliminary
assessments only. Please continue to check with Client Services at RADARSAT International to verify
that scenes selected from the archive are in fact available.
Entering the Search Parameters

Menu Bar Selection: SWATH/Generate...Search Catalogue
The search parameters are entered into the same dialogue box that is used by the SWATH /Generate
Option. Please refer back to "Chapter 8: Generating a Swath Acquisition Plan" if you need an
explanation on the search parameters. Once the search parameters have been entered, you will click on
the Search Catalogue button rather than the Generate button. This will cause the SPA to search through
the files in the archive directory for swaths matching the search parameters.

Part 3 Essential Operations Chapter 9: Searching the RADARSAT Archive
9-1
The following summarizes the main differences between the Search Catalogue Option and the Generate
Option:
1. The Signal Button (Realtime versus Recorded) does not apply. The catalogue search will
ignore this input and display both recorded and realtime swaths regardless of which types of
signal you select.
2. The Restrict Generation to DRF Line of Sight does not apply. Activating this option will have
no effect on the search results.
3. The Browse Swaths Screen (SWATH/Browse) returns slightly different results with the longer
version of acquisition information (to access the longer version, double click with the left
mouse button the acquisition in question):
In addition to the standard acquisition information (date, time and beam position), the type of
acquisition (realtime versus recorded), the data reception facility where the data was downlinked
and the Imaging Activity ID are supplied. The Imaging Activity ID (Acquired #) is used by RSI
to process archived data.
4. The format of the files containing archived swaths (*.DAT files) is slightly different from the
format of a generated swath files (User Request files). Once a file with archived swaths has
been saved (which converts it to a User Request), the format changes from an archive file to a
User Request file and the Imaging Activity ID is lost.
5. An archive swath can be shortened but not lengthened.
What's in the Archive?

The library of archive files that are searched by the Search Catalogue contains all successfully
downlinked images beginning from May 23 19:00 1996 UTC to current. The date of the most current
9-1
archive imagery will depend on several factors: when the reception report was generated by the Data
Reception Facility; when the reception report was received and entered into the archive database (which
is maintained by the Canada Space Agency); when RADARSAT International last updated the catalogue
files; and finally, when you last updated your archive library from FTP site.
These archive files contain archived imagery from all data reception facilities operating as part of the
RADARSAT program.
Archive files contain image strips that are usually a minimum duration of one minute.
Users of the Search Catalogue Tool should be aware of the following factors that may lead to
inaccuracies or data quality problems with some archive imagery:
Orbital drift is now maintained to plus or minus 5 kilometres. This is the same level of accuracy
that applies to the generation of future acquisitions. However, this target of 5 kilometres was not
always met in the first few months of satellite operations.
Occasionally, an archive image may exist in the catalogue, which does not meet the data quality
standards of RADARSAT International. These images will not be detected until the data is
processed, at which point RADARSAT International's quality control procedures will alert the
user of the problem.
The entire image swath that is displayed on the SPA is not always available from the archive.
The beginnings and ends of swaths do not always contain useful data. It is recommended that
you assume that the first 3 seconds and the last 3 seconds of data from any one strip is not
available.
Keeping Archive Files Updated

To optimize the utility of the Search Catalogue, the library of archive files must be updated on a weekly
basis. Please see "Chapter 1: Installing the Swath Planner" for instructions on how to update your
archive files.
Please also note that RADARSAT International will have access to archive imagery that is not included
in your files due to the weekly time delay. Client Services and Acquisition Planners are available to help
you with your archive searches and to plan future acquisitions where archive imagery does not exist.
Acquiring a future acquisition is also a simple procedure and has the added advantage of being able to
customize the acquisition to ideally suit the application.

9-1
Part 4
Planning
Examples
Chapter 10
Planning Example 1: Single Image, Single Orbit
URBAN PLANNING APPLICATION - VANCOUVER USING FINE BEAM POSITION 2
Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
i.
summarize a client's acquisition planning requirements
ii.
open a region file and modify the Swath Planner display
iii.
generate an accessibility swath
iv.
tag and edit a single image swath, and
v.
save a user request file.
Client's Requirements
Your RADARSAT client requires an image of Vancouver and the surrounding urban area in 8metre resolution. The client feels that in order to capture the features of interest, an approximate
incidence angle of 39-44 degrees and an easterly look direction are most suitable. The
application is not time sensitive, and for the moment, the client only wants to know if these
requirements can be met using RADARSAT Fine beam mode.
Acquisition Planning Requirements
Before beginning to plan the acquisition, you may wish to summarize the key details of the
client's request:
Vancouver and surrounding urban area
8 m resolution - therefore Fine beam mode is required
39-44 degree incidence angle - therefore Fine beam position 2 or position 3 is required (see
Chapter 3 for definitions of beam positions and incidence angles)
Easterly look direction - therefore Ascending Pass only
Not time sensitive - therefore investigate all acquisition possibilities within a 24 day orbit
repeat cycle
Setting Display Preferences

1. Select FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays
2. Change the World Map threshold to 1:50,000.
Part 4 Planning Examples Chapter 10: Planning Example 1: Single Image, Single Orbit
10-1
This will ensure that the World Map projection is used at all scales smaller than 1:50,000.
If you surpassed this threshold, the screen will appear blank, unless you have selected
geographic overlays. (You will typically use geographic overlays, which are more
accurate than the World Map projection, when working in larger map scales.)
Opening a Region File
1. Select Region/Open
2. Select the region file c:\spa2-8r1\region\vancvr.rgn
The region file will appear as a red dot on the West Coast of North America, just above
the 45-degree north latitude.
Zooming-in on a Region
1. Select Edit/View or use the shortcut key F2 key to select the View Mode
2. Select VIEW/Select Window (or use the shortcut key Ctrl-W), the Status Bar should read Select
Window.
3. Place the mouse arrow at the top-left corner of the area you wish to magnify, and while
holding down the left-button, drag a box over the region of interest.
You may have to magnify the region further by repeating this process. You should see a
red polygon highlighting the Vancouver region against an outline of the surrounding
coastline.
If you have over-magnified the region of interest, you will need to re-set the map scale.
Re-setting Map Scale
1. While in View Mode click on the right mouse button and select a scale from the Pop-up
menu. A good scale to work with for this exercise would be 1:1,000,000.
Generating an Accessibility
Swath
1. Select SWATH/Generate
2. Change the Generation
Period mode from UTC
Time to Cycle/Orbit.

10-1
The Cycle/Orbit mode allows you to easily view one complete orbit cycle, which gives
access to all imaging possibilities.
3. Change the Start to cycle 1 orbit 0 and the Stop to cycle 2 orbit 0. This creates a
generation period of 1 full repeat cycle.
4. Ensure the region is set to vancvr.rgn
5. Change the Mode from Standard to Fine Resolution, and select a beam position range of
F2N to F3F
6. Select Ascending Only
7. Select RealTime for the Signal (Vancouver is in the Prince Albert visibility mask).
8. Click on Generate to begin generation of beam footprints.
You will now see two rectangular accessibility swaths over the region of interest. These
footprints display the areas which could be imaged using either F2 or F3 beam mode.

10-1
Tagging the Desired Image Swath

1. Select SWATH/Tag Swath (or F5 key). The Status Bar will confirm which operating mode
is currently selected.
2. Click the mouse arrow within the most westerly accessibility swath. You will now see
that there are multiple image swaths within the footprint.
3. Tag the image swath/beam position farthest east by clicking within the swath once. The
Status Bar indicates that this is an F3F (Fine 3 Far) image swath.
4. Select Region/Information. Note that the selected image swath covers only 78% of the
region of interest. Since this accessibility swath provides inadequate coverage, select
Delete on your keyboard to remove the swath from the screen.

10-1
5. Now tag the other

accessibility swath by
clicking once within
the swath. Tag the
image swath farthest
east. Note that this
image swath does not
cover the region of
interest but there are
other image swaths in
the
accessibility
swath, which might
cover the region. By
hitting the Tab key,
you
can
toggle
through the available image swaths until a suitable one is found. By using an F2N or a F2
beam mode, 100% coverage can be obtained. However, the F2N beam is better centred
over the region of interest so it would be the most suitable beam position.
6. Select Swath/Browse. The specifics of the swath are displayed, including the time
interval where RADARSAT will actively be imaging the region.
Editing the Desired Image Swath

Since the desired image swath utilizes the full width (50-km) of the F2N image swath but is
much shorter in height, you need to edit the F2N image swath before saving your acquisition
plan. You need to "stretch" the image swath further north and south in order to better utilize the
complete image frame that will be acquired. Since an F2N image frame is approximately 50 km
x 50 km, you should square the image swath.
1. Select FRAMING/Standard Georeferenced
10-1
2. Select EDIT/Edit Swath or use the F6 key (the Status Bar will change to Edit Swath mode)
3. Drag the edges of the image swath frame in the direction you wish to extend it. (Note
that you cannot adjust the width, as this is pre-determined by the limits of the F2N beam
mode.)
Attempt to create a square-shaped image swath. If you over-stretch the swath, a second
frame will appear, indicating that more than one F2N image swath is required. You may
wish to purposely over-stretch and then reduce the swath in order to determine the
maximum area that can be imaged in one F2N frame.
4. Select SWATH/Browse to view the specifics of the accessibility swath.
5. With the image frame highlighted, click the mouse outside of the beam footprint. The
desired image frame should change colour, and a frame number should appear in its
centre.
Saving a User Request (*.htm) File

1. Select FILE/Save
2. Save the file under the name vanf2na.htm. This name describes an image of Vancouver in
Fine beam mode position 2N in an ascending pass. (It is recommended that you adopt a
consistent method of naming Region and User Request files on your hard drive. An
alternate file name might be vanf2N.htm (Vancouver, F2N).

10-1
Chapter 11
Planning Example 2: Multi Image, Single Orbit
COASTAL MAPPING APPLICATION - COSTA RICA USING STANDARD BEAM 4
Learning Objectives
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
re-initialize the SPA interface

display geographic overlays
open a region file and modify the SPA display
generate an accessibility swath
tag and frame a multi-image swath, and
save a user request file
A RADARSAT client would like to map the impact of a recent hurricane on aquaculture sites along the
southwest coast of Costa Rica. The client has requested a continuous coverage that is east-facing and has
a nominal spatial resolution of 30 m. Since strong corner reflection will be required in order for the
acquaculture pens to be visible, you have recommended a relatively steep minimum incidence angle of 30
degrees. The application is time sensitive, and the client is prepared to pay for Priority Programming
service in order to ensure delivery of the data within 1 month of the request date. Assume the date of
request is January 5, 1997.
The summary of your client's requirements follows:
Southwest Costa Rica. (Specifically, the client wants to image the coastline from Puerto Quepos to
Punto Banco, Peninsula de Osa).
30-m resolution - therefore Standard beam mode is required.
minimum 30 degree incidence angle - therefore Standard beam positions 3-7 are considered (see
Chapter 3 for definitions of beam modes and incidence angles)
Easterly look direction - therefore ascending pass only.
Time sensitive - therefore schedule image acquisition for first available opportunity after January 5,
1997. (If you were to experience a conflict with previously programmed acquisitions with Urgent
or Priority Programming status, RSI Client Services would notify you that it would not be possible
to satisfy the image request. You would then need to prepare the next most desirable acquisition
plan. For further information on premium services, refer to RADARSAT Illuminated: Your Guide
to Products & Services, or to the RADARSAT Price List.

Part 4 Planning Examples Chapter 11: Planning Example 2: Multi Image, Single Orbit
11-1
Clearing the Current Session to Start a New Acquisition Plan

You can reinitialize the SPA interface by exiting and re-starting the software, or by manually
reinitializing the current display. If you exit the SPA, you should save any display preferences
you wish to use in your next session.
1. Select FILE/New.
2. Select VIEW/World Map.
Setting Display Preferences
For each new planning session, the display preferences can be customized. In this case, the
display of regional overlays is recommended for the planning session.
1. Select FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays.
2. Verify that the following *.geo files are "available". If they are available they will appear
in the FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays window. If they are not available, they must
be made available from your geographic overlays directory:
MEXCAR_1.GEO
Political Borders
MEXCAR_2.GEO
Coastlines
NSAMER_1.GEOPolitical
Borders
NSAMER_2.GEOCoastlines
NSAMER_5.GEOPlace Names
Appendix C provides a reference
of the geographic coverage of
each overlay available in the SPA.
3. Change the World Map threshold to 1:10,000,000. Now, when you set a World Map
Display Scale larger than 1:10,000,000, the Map Display will default to the geographic
overlays if they have also been "selected" (see Step #4).
4. To complete the procedure for drawing regional overlays, select VIEW/Geographic
Overlays. Highlight the required overlays and click on the right-facing arrow button to
make them "Selected" overlays.

11-1

11-1
2. Select the NSAMER_5.GEO overlay and click the key. The overlay is still available
for the current session, but is no longer displayed. Your display screen should look like
this:
Generating an Accessibility Swath

1. Select SWATH/Generate
2. Change the Start time to January 12, 1997, and the Stop time to January 19, 1997. This
creates a generation period of 7 days beginning one week from the current date (the
earliest day possible to program the satellite with Priority Programming), and gives one
week worth of acquisitions to analyze.
It is easier to analyze your
acquisition plan if you start
with a short generation period.
4. Change the Region from None
to Costaric.rgn
5. Ensure the Mode is Standard
beam, S3 to S7
6. Select Ascending Only for
Direction
7. Select Recorded for the Signal.
8. As we will transition from low signal intensity (water in near range) to higher intensity
(land in far range), we will set a Manual Gain fixed setting, value 16.
11-1
These generation parameters will yield a result such as the following graphic:

1. Select SWATH/Tag Swath
2. Place the cursor within the accessibility swath. You will now see that there are five
image swaths within the footprint (S3, S4, S5, S6 and S7).
3. Tag the image swath farthest west by clicking within the swath once. The Status Bar
indicates that this is an S3 image swath. It appears that this swath is able to completely
cover the region of interest, and no other image swaths are required. (Confirm this by
selecting the REGION/Information. Note that the selected image swath covers 100% of the
region of interest.)
Editing and Framing the Tagged Image Swath
1. Select FRAMING/Standard Georeferenced
Notice that the two S3 image frames will overlap to ensure continuous coverage.
However, the second frame (top) is not yet a complete frame.

11-1
2. Select SWATH/Edit Swath (or use the short-cut key F6) then drag the edges of the two
frames in the direction you wish to extend the swath.
Stretch the frames north and south in order to provide plenty of buffer coverage around
the region and to centre the image strip over the region of interest. If you over-stretch the
swath, a third frame will appear, indicating more than two S3 images would be required.
3. Once you are satisfied that you have two frames, select SWATH/Browse menu. The
specifics of the swath are displayed, including the time interval that RADARSAT will
actively be imaging the region.
4. With the image frames highlighted, click the mouse outside of the beam footprint. The
desired image frames should change colour, and frame numbers should appear in each of
the two frame's centre.
The final acquisition plan should look like this:

11-1

1. Select FILE/Save As
2. Save the file under the name costars3.htm. This name describes an image of Costa Rica
in Standard Beam Mode 3.

11-1
Chapter 12
Planning Example 3: Multi Image, Multi Orbit (Single Cycle)
ICE MONITORING APPLICATION - RESOLUTE BAY USING SCANSAR WIDE
Learning Objectives
i. create and save a region file based upon specific latitude/longitude co-ordinates
ii. display and generate DRF visibility masks
iii. generate multiple accessibility swaths over a single cycle, and
iv. tag and frame multiple image swaths.
One of the Canadian government's principle uses for RADARSAT ScanSAR imagery will be to
facilitate cost-effective ice monitoring of Canada's vast Arctic region. You have been appointed
to prepare an acquisition plan for monitoring of the western half of Barrow Strait. In order to be
useful for strategic navigation planning, the data must be acquired every 3 days, and directly
downlinked to either the Prince Albert or Gatineau DRF in Canada. The client has specified the
region of interest with the following co-ordinates:
75.00N 100.00W
73.85N 100.40W
73.70N 99.15W
74.00N 95.00W
74.40N 95.00W
74.80N 96.40W
The summary of the client's requirements is as follows:
Western Barrow Strait, with the above co-ordinates.

ScanSAR Wide A, since the region of interest is within the DRF. ScanSAR Wide A cannot be
stored on RADARSAT's on-board tape recorders and is therefore only available where direct
downlink is possible. ScanSAR Wide B can be recorded for delayed data downlink;
however, it provides slightly less arial coverage.

Clear your current display if you have not already done so.
Part 4 Planning Examples Chapter 12: Planning Example 3: Multi Image, Multi Orbit (Single Cycle)
12-1
1. Select FILE/New.
2. Select VIEW/ World Map.
Selecting Geographic Overlays and DRF visibility masks
If you have stored your geographic overlays in the c:\spa3-1r1\mapdata\ directory and are using
the spa.prf file as instructed in Chapter 1 Installing and Staring the Swath Planner, the overlays
should already be available to you. All you need to do is move them from the list of available
overlays to the list of selected overlays. If you need to add them to the list of available overlays
first, refer to Chapter 5. Refer to Appendix C for areal coverage of each regional geographic
overlays.
2. Move the following geographic overlays from the available list to the selected list:
NNAMER_2.GEO
NNAMER_5.GEO
ARCTIC_2.GEO
Coastlines
Place Names
Coastlines
3. Change the World Map threshold to 1:5,000,000.

Now, when your display scale is larger than 1:5,000,000, the geographic overlays, which
you have selected, will be displayed.
4. To ensure that the units for latitude and longitude are Decimal Degrees and not
Degrees/Minutes/Seconds (DD:MM:SS), select FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours.
Select Decimal Degrees in the Latitude/Longitude field.
5. Select VIEW/DRF Visibility.
6. Select the Prince Albert (P_5deg) and Gatineau (G_5deg) DRF visibility masks.
7. The perimeter of the DRF visibility masks for Prince Albert and Gatineau will be
displayed.
DRF visibility masks are usually available as 1, 3 and/or 5 masks. The smallest and
most conservative mask is the 5 mask. Swaths falling within the 5 mask are the most
likely to be received without reception problems. Reception problems are likely to
increase on the edges of the 1 mask.
Viewing the Area of Interest

12-1
Zoom-in on the map display so your area of interest and the display elements you wish to see are
visible.
1. Select VIEW/ Display Options.
2. Select Orthographic projection.
3. Input a pair of co-ordinates, which fall within the region of interest, (eg. 74.2N 96.0W) in
the Latitude and Longitude fields and select a Scale of 1:2,000,000. Ensure that Gridlines,
Lat-Long Grid Annotation, Beam Footprints, Frame Numbers and DRF Visibility Masks are
selected to be shown.
You will now see the Barrow Strait and surrounding region in detail. The edge of the
Prince Albert DRF will also be visible. You may decide to remove the NNAMER_5.geo
overlay if your screen is too cluttered.
Creating a Region of Interest

Enter the co-ordinates that the client has
supplied to create a polygon-type region of
interest.
1. Select REGION/New.
2. Type each of the vertices specified
by the client into the Polygon field.
12-1
Be sure to enter the co-ordinates in a counter-clockwise direction. Should you

accidentally enter them in a clockwise direction, swaths for the entire globe rather than
just the region of interest will be generated.
To re-enter your last co-ordinate, select Undo
To start over, select Cancel.
3. If you are satisfied with the co-ordinates that have been entered, select OK and enter
c:/spa3-1r1/region/barrow.rgn in the Save Region dialogue box.
Generating Accessibility Swaths
The client wants one ScanSAR Wide A image to completely cover the region of interest every 3
days. To begin the analysis, restrict the generation period to one-third of a complete cycle.
Eventually, you will want to generate all acquisition possibilities, which will mean using a
complete cycle, but breaking the generation period into three parts will simplify the swath
evaluation process. Assume that the date of request is early February 1997. Use the Calendar of
Orbits in Appendix E to calculate the next available complete cycle (in this example, use Cycle
20 March 04, 1997 to March 28, 1997.)
1. Select SWATH/Generate.
2. Change the units from UTC Time to Cycle/Orbit and change the Start time to Cycle 20
Orbit 1 and the Stop time to Cycle 20 Orbit 114 (remember that there are 343 orbits in
one cycle, 343/3 = 114).
3. Select barrow.rgn for the Region.
4. Select ScanSAR Wide A for the Mode and Beam.
5. Select Ascending and Descending for the Pass Direction.
6. Activate the option Restrict Generation to DRF Line of Sight to ensure swaths generated
can be downlinked to either of the ground receiving stations.
7. Click on Generate to begin the generation of beam footprints.
8. For easier interpretation, zoom-out to a scale of 1:5,000,000.

12-1
You can now see an

array of ascending
and
descending
ScanSAR swaths,
the
region
of
interest and the
maximum visibility
of the Prince Albert
DRF.

To tag the swaths for inclusion in the final acquisition plan, each swath should be individually
evaluated to ensure that it completely covers the region. Delete swaths that do not completely
cover the region. Then, from those swaths that remain, select one swath for every three days.
1. Select SWATH/Information, this will inform you that 15 swaths have been generated.
You should now attempt to highlight and delete any swaths, which do not fully cover the
region of interest. This will take some trial and error, but you will be able to clearly
identify the swaths, which will provide 100% coverage of the region.
2. View each image swath by selecting SWATH/Browse then click on View to highlight the
swath (it will be drawn on the Map Display screen in light blue).
If it appears that an image swath completely covers the region of interest, click within the
swath once again to "tag" the swath (it should turn pink in colour).
If a swath does not completely cover the region of interest, remove the swath by pressing
Delete on your keyboard. Continue this process for all swaths.
You can also confirm the coverage of a region by an image swath by selecting
REGION/Information while a swath is highlighted. The coverage of the selected image
swath will be given. Be sure to apply this function individually to each swath. If more
than one swath is tagged, the coverage calculation is cumulative.

12-1
3. Select SWATH/Browse. If you have deleted all image swaths not providing 100%
coverage, the following swaths should remain:
4. Since the client has requested one complete image every 3 days, there are some extra
swaths, which can be deleted. Analyze the acquisition dates to end-up with
approximately one swath every 3 days. If you use March 4 as Day 1, then the two swaths
on March 05 can be deleted. Keep the earlier March 8 acquisition to be as close to 3 days
from the March 04 acquisition as possible. Then delete the next two swaths. This will
leave you with the following 3 swaths:
Editing the Desired Image Swath

Now the remaining three swaths need to be edited to create complete frames.
1. Select one of the remaining image swaths by clicking the left mouse button once with in
the swath so that it turns dark blue.
2. Select Framing/Georeferenced.
3. Select Swath/Edit Swath (or use the short-cut key F6 key.)
4. Alternately extend both edges of the frame until a double-line appears. The double-line
indicates the overlap between two frames and gives a guide for where to cut-off the swath

12-1
to create only one frame. Edit the frame so that it is one complete frame (approximately
1 minute and 18 seconds). The frame should be centred over the region of interest.
5. Repeat Steps 1 to 3 for each swath in the plan. If you find it difficult to tag underlying
image swaths, the F10 key toggles through overlying swaths.
The first three edited and framed swaths should look like the following:
Now that the first third of the cycle has been evaluated and the desired swaths have been tagged
and edited, the remainder of the cycle must be evaluated. Repeat the steps outlined above to
generate, tag and edit swaths until you have gone through a complete orbit cycle. It may be
easiest to split the remaining generations into two periods to keep the tagging and editing of
swaths easier to view. Make your second-generation period start at cycle 20 orbit 114 and end at
cycle 20 orbit 228. Make your third generation period start at cycle 20 orbit 228 and end at
cycle 21 orbit 0.
Your final swath plan should look like the following:

12-1

When you are satisfied with your swath plan, save the final version.
1. Select FILE/Save.
2. Save the file under the name c:/spa3-1r1/userreq/barrowsw.htm. This name describes an
image acquisition schedule of the Barrow Strait using ScanSAR Wide.
12-1
Chapter 13
Planning Example 4: Multi Image, Multi Cycle
LAND MAPPING APPLICATION - KENYA IN STANDARD BEAM 6 & 7
Learning Objectives
i.
digitize and save a region file based upon geographical and political borders
ii.
generate multiple accessibility swaths over several complete cycles
iii.
tag and frame multiple image swaths to provide 100% coverage of a large region.
The Kenyan mapping agency has embarked on an ambitious mapping project. Their intention is
to update existing 1:250,000 base maps of the entire country. They require shallow incidence,
west-facing, Standard beam SAR data. You have been requested to develop an acquisition plan
for this project.
The summary of the clients requirements is as follows:
All of Kenya
Shallow Standard beam, thus Standard beam 7 or Standard beam 6
West-facing look direction, therefore descending pass only.

Clear your display if you have not already done so.
1. Select FILE/New.
2. Select VIEW/World Map.
Selecting Geographic Overlays
If you have stored your geographic overlays in the c:\spa2-8r1\mapdata\ directory and are using
the spa.prf file as instructed in Chapter 1 Installing and Starting the Swath Planner, the overlays
should already be available to you. All you need to do is move them from the list of available
Part 4 Planning Examples Chapter 13: Planning Example 4: Multi Image, Multi Cycle
13-1
overlays to the list of selected overlays. If you need to add them to the list of available overlays
first, refer to Chapter 5. Refer to Appendix C for areal coverage of each regional geographic
overlays.
2. Move the following geographic overlays from the available list to the selected list:
NAFRIC_1.GEO
NAFRIC_2.GEO
MIDEAS_1.GEO
MIDEAS_2.GEO
Political Boundaries
Coastlines
Coastlines
3. Select FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays and change the World Map threshold to

1:8,000,000.
Now, when you select a Map Display scale equal to or larger than 1:8,000,000, the
selected geographic overlays will be drawn.
Viewing the Area of Interest
Zoom in on your area of interest and select the display elements you wish to see.
1. Select View/Select Window.
2. Place the cursor at the top-left corner of the area you wish to magnify, and while holding
down the left-button, drag a box over the region of interest. Create a box around the
Equator and the eastern coast of Africa.
3. Select View/Display Options and set your Map Display scale to be larger 1:8,000,000. You
will now see Kenya and the surrounding region in detail.
4. If Kenya is not centred well in the Map Display screen, select VIEW/Select Centre (or use
the Ctrl-C short-cut key). Place the cursor in the centre of Kenya and click once with the
left mouse button.
Digitizing a Region
Follow the country borders that have been displayed from the geographic overlays as a guide to
digitizing a region of interest that is the entire country of Kenya.
1. Select Region/Digitize/New.
2. Digitize the region using your mouse.
To digitize a region, place the cursor over the point you wish to use as a coordinate and
click with the left mouse button. Enter coordinates in a counter-clockwise direction
13-1
around your area of interest. Use the country borders as a guideline. Should you
accidentally enter them in a clockwise direction, swaths for the entire globe will be
generated.
To re-enter your last coordinate, click the right mouse button and a pop-up menu will
appear. Select Delete and the last line segment will be deleted.
To start over, select REGION/Digitize/Cancel and all lines will be deleted.
3. If you are satisfied with the coordinates that been have entered, select
REGION/Digitize/Accept. A Save Region dialogue box will appear. Enter a complete path
and file name, such as, c:/spa3-1r1/region/kenya.rgn.
Your Map Display should now look like this:

13-1
Generating Accessibility Swaths

Since the client has requested Standard beam data with shallow incidence angles, the first step is
to determine how much coverage can be obtained using only Standard beam 7. Assume that the
request has been made sometime in early February, thus a good date to use to start the generation
period would be March 04, 1997 which corresponds to Cycle 20 orbit 1. Use an entire orbit
cycle to ensure that you are evaluating all imaging possibilities.
2. Change the Generation Period Start time to 1997-Mar-04 21:00:00.00. Change the Stop
time to Mar-28 21:00:00.00 (24 days later gives one full cycle).
If the region cannot be fully imaged in the preferred beam position, you will need to
generate swaths using a second cycle until you can provide 100% coverage of the region
of interest.
The official planning day for the RADARSAT mission begins at 21:00:00 UTC.
However, it is not necessary to use 21:00:00 hours, just use the same time in both Start
and Stop fields.
3.
Enter c:/spa2-8r1/region/kenya.rgn for the Region.
4. Enter Standard for the Mode and limit the Beam to S7.
5. Select Descending Only.
6. Select Recorded for the Signal
You should see several Standard beam position 7 image swaths over the region of
interest. Note that there are gaps between each swath. The gaps will need to be filled
with a subsequent cycle in a beam position that is close to the incidence angle of Standard
beam 7.
The following graphic displays the Standard beam 7-image swaths.
13-1

13-1
Tagging the Image Swaths

Each of these Standard beam 7 image swaths must now be tagged.
1. Select SWATH/Tag Swath or use the F5 short-cut key.
2. Place your cursor in the centre of the most easterly swath, double-click with the left
mouse button. Move to the next swath and double-click again. Continue until all swaths
are tagged. Tagged swaths will turn pink.
If you select SWATH/Information, you will see that there are 10 swaths currently tagged.
If you select REGION/Information, you will see that these 10 swaths have yielded only
89.5 % coverage of the region of interest. To obtain 100% coverage you will need to
generate Standard beam 6 over the region of interest.
Generating a Second Cycle of Accessibility Swaths
The Standard beam 6 can not be acquired at the same time as the Standard beam 7. So, a secondgeneration cycle will be required to obtain complete coverage.
2. Change the Generation Period Start time to 1997-Mar-28 21:00:00.00. Change the Stop
time to Apr-21 21:00:00.00.
3. Change the Beam to Standard 6.
4. The remaining fields should still contain the correct information. Click on Generate to
begin generation of the Standard 6 swaths.
Tagging the Standard 6 Image Swaths
Each of these Standard beam 6 image swaths must now be tagged.
1. Select SWATH/Tag Swath or hit the F5 short-cut key. Tag the Standard 6 swaths.
If you select SWATH/Information, you will now see that there are 20 swaths currently
tagged.
If you select REGION/Information, you will see that these 20 swaths have yielded 100 %
coverage of the region of interest.
Framing and Editing the Image Swaths

13-1
Each swath must now be edited to ensure that the last frame in each swath is complete, that
redundant data from overlapping swaths is removed and image swaths are centred over the
region of interest.
1. Click outside of any swath to ensure no swath is selected. Select FRAMING/Standard
Georeferenced. A prompt will be displayed: "Apply to All Swaths? Select "OK". Frames
and frame numbers should appear in each swath.
2. Select Swath/Edit Swath or hit the short-cut key F6.
Start with the eastern most swath and highlight it. Stretch or shorten each swath as
required. The first swath can be deleted because the adjacent swath covers the coast
completely. The second swath (on April 17) can be reduced to one frame. The third
swath (on March 24) can be reduced to 3 frames.
Continue analyzing each swath. Use the zoom-in function to view the edges of the region
in greater detail. Use the redraw functions to keep the screen clear.
By "fine-tuning" your swath length, you will be able to reduce the total number of image
swath frames required.
3. Due to the large number of frames in this acquisition plan, the display of frame numbers
should be de-activated for a clearer picture.
Select
VIEW/Display
Options and de-activate
Show Frame Numbers
Although it may be
slightly different, your
acquisition plan should
look something like the
following:
Viewing Information about the Image Swaths

Information about each acquisition, the region and the acquisition plan is available through
various options in the SPA. You have already seen that REGION/Information gives details about
the region and total coverage. And that SWATH/Information gives details on the number of
swaths. SWATH/Browse gives details on each swath and frame.
1. Select SWATH/Browse. The specifics of the swath are displayed, including the time
interval that RADARSAT will actively be imaging the region.
13-1
Double-click on an entry and additional data concerning the type of downlink will be
displayed.
If the swath has been framed, double clicking on the entry will also give information on
the timing and the number of frames.
If framing has been applied to all of the swaths in the acquisition plan, you can get the
total number of frames in the plan. Double-click on the last swath in the list of swaths.
The last frame number in that swath is the total number of frames in the acquisition plan.
In this example, the last swath is imaged on April 17. The total number of frames is 124.

2. Save the file under the name c:/spa3-1r1/userreq/kenyas76.htm. This name describes an
image acquisition schedule for Kenya using the Standard beams 7 & 6.

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Chapter 14
Planning Example: Using the RADARSAT Archive
LAND MAPPING APPLICATION - ARCHIVED DATA OF SWITZERLAND IN STANDARD 7
Learning Objectives
i.
search the RADARSAT Archive
ii.
tag, edit and frame archived image swaths
iii.
create acquisition plans which contain both archived and planned imagery
A client has asked for RADARSAT imagery collected over Switzerland to combine with
previously acquired LANDSAT data. This client wants coverage of all of Switzerland in
Standard Beam 7 using descending passes only. The client wants imagery that has been
collected in the last three months only and requires the data as soon as possible. If there is any
data that is not acquired in archive, the data must be planned for acquisition before the middle of
April. Assume the date of request is March 05, 1997.
Acquisition Planning Requirements:
The client's summary of requirements is as follows
all of Switzerland
Standard beam 7
Descending pass only
collection dates from December 01, 1996 to February 28, 1997

Clear your display if you have not already done so.
1. Select FILE/New
2. Select VIEW/World Map
Selecting Geographic Overlays
Part 4 Planning Examples Chapter 14: Planning Example: Using the RADARSAT Archive
14-1
For this exercise, the regional overlays for Europe will be required.
2. Select the following *.geo files:
EURATL_1.GEO
EURATL_2.GEO
Coastlines
3. Select FILE/Preferences/Geographic Overlays.

1:3,000,000.
Change the World Map threshold to
Now, when you set your Map Display scale to be larger than 1:3,000,000, the EURATL
geographic overlays will be drawn.
Selecting and Viewing the Region of Interest
A region file has already been created by digitizing the country borders of Switzerland. It should
have been copied to your region directory during the installation of the SPA.
1. Select REGION/Open and open the file c:/spa-3-0r3/region/switzer.rgn.
2. Select VIEW/Select Window or use short-cut key Ctrl-W and create box around the region
of interest.
3. Use the REGION/Select Centre and REGION/Zoom options to centre the display around the
region of interest and set the scale to 1:3,000,000. Your Map Display should look like the
following:

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Entering RADARSAT Archive Search Parameters

Enter the search parameters as they have been defined by the client's requirements.
2. Change the Generation Period Start time to 1996-Dec-01. Change the Stop time to 1997Feb-28 21:00:00.00.
The official planning day for the RADARSAT mission begins at 21:00:00 UTC.
However, it is not necessary to use 21:00:00 hours, just use the same time in both Start
and Stop fields.
3.
Enter switzer.rgn for the Region.
6. Select Realtime for the Signal
7. Click on Search Catalogue to begin the RADARSAT Archive search.
The following graphic displays the results. You should see several Standard beam
position 7 image swaths over the region of interest.

14-1
Editing and Framing the Image Swaths

To create an acquisition plan from archived imagery, each swath must be edited and framed just
like future acquisition strips. Data within the first or last 5 seconds of any archive image strip
should not be included in any acquisition plan.
1. To view the entire length of the archive image strips, re-set the scale to 1:15,000,000.
2. Select SWATH/Edit Swath or use the short-cut key F6.
3. Place the cursor on the most western archive image strip and click the left mouse button
once (the archive image strip should turn dark blue). Use the mouse to drag the edges of
the image strip to shorten the image strip at both ends so that it just covers the region of
interest. Repeat for each archive image strip. Delete the archive image strip from
February 26, 1997 (it is duplicate data).
4. Re-set the scale to 1:3,000,000 and re-centre the region of interest. Your Map Display
should now look like the following:

14-1
5. Select SWATH/Tag Swath (or use the short-cut key F5). Place the cursor inside any one
image strip and click once with the left mouse button. The image strip should turn dark
blue.
6. Then select FRAMING/Standard Georeferenced. Frames should appear in all of the strips.
7. Select SWATH/Edit Swath and shorten or lengthen each archive image strip so that it
contains complete frames and the image strip is centred over the region of interest. The
acquisition plan should now look like the following:
8. Select SWATH/Browse to view the specifics of each image strips.
The
detailed
information displayed
for the image strip
collected on 1996Dec-09 is obtained by
double clicking on the
entry. This includes
additional information
14-1
indicating the type of acquisition (realtime versus recorded), where it was acquired, the
Acquisition Number (which will be used to order the archive data) and the type of framing
used.
Adding Planned Acquisitions to Complete the Required Coverage
To complete the coverage the client requested, a future acquisition needs to be added to the
acquisition plan to cover the gap in the centre of the region of interest.
2. Change the Generation Period Start time to 1997-Mar-12. Change the Stop time to 1997Apr-05 21:00:00.00.
This date range begins on the earliest feasible date after March 05, 1997 (the date of the
client's request) and gives all imaging possibilities with which to cover the gap.
3. Enter switzer.rgn for the Region.
6. Select Realtime for the Signal
7. Click on Generate.
Tagging, editing and framing the additional swath
The above generation parameters will produce several unnecessary swaths (swaths, which cover
areas already, covered by the archive data). They need to be identified and deleted. The one
swath required to complete the coverage needs to be tagged edited and framed.
1. Select SWATH/Browse, highlight the first swath appearing in March and click on the VIEW
button. The swath will appear on the screen drawn in light blue. If the area covered by
the swath has already been covered by an archive image strip, delete the swath by hitting
the Delete key. Keep only the swath from April 01.
2. Highlight the swath to be acquired on April 01 and select FRAMING/Georeferenced.
3. Select SWATH/Edit Swath (or use the short-cut key F6) and lengthen the swath until it
contains three frames and is centred over the region of interest.
The acquisition plan is now complete and should be saved. It contains 9 frames of archived data
and 3 frames of future acquisitions.
14-1
2. Save the file under the name c:/spa3-1r1/userreq/swisss7d.htm. This name describes an
acquisition plan for Switzerland using the Standard beam 7 in descending passes.
Your final acquisition plan should look like the following:

14-1
Part 5
Advanced
Operations
Chapter 15
Additional Swath Planner File Functions
Importing Catalogue Files
Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Import Catalogue
Image Strip Catalogue Files are produced by querying the Mission Management Office's database using
the User Request Editor and a WEB browser, such as Mosaic or Netscape, and then saving the HTML
response to disk. Access to these files is limited to RSI, other RADARSAT Order Desks and some
specific users such as Data Reception Facilities. Procedures for performing Image Strip Catalogue
queries are included in the documentation on RADARSAT Order Desk operations.
Image Strip Catalogue Files differ from the archive files (*.DAT) provided by RSI for the Search
Catalogue tool in file format and that they are slightly more up-to-date. Swaths from the Image Strip
Catalogue Files may be imported into the current session of the SPA if you want to include archived
images in your acquisition plan.
To import an Image Strip Catalogue File:
1. Select Swath/Import Catalogue.
A Windows dialogue box will allow you to select a file name from the default directory
for the Image Strip Catalogue Files.
Printing the Map Display
Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Print/Map Display
A print of the map display is usually an excellent way to document your swath plan. There are several
ways to print a copy of the Map Display.
Direct Printing of the Map Display
This option allows you to print the Map Display directly to your designated printer.
1. Select FILE/Print, and then choose Map Display.
2. The standard Windows print dialogue will open, allowing you to print the Map Display
by clicking on the OK button.
Saving the Map Display as a Bitmap
You can also save the Map Display to a file in Windows bitmap format. The bitmap file can then
be imported into a graphics or presentation package.
1. Select FILE/Print, and then choose "Save as a Bitmap".
or 2. Select FILE/Preferences/File Locations and activate the "Bitmap" file option as part of the
process of saving a User Request File. This will save a bitmap file to the User Files
default directory every time you save a User Request file.
Part 5 Advanced Operations Chapter 15: Additional Swath Planner File Functions
15-1
Printing of Other Windows

Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Print/Clipboard
In addition to printing the Map Display, it is often useful to document acquisition information contained
in some of the other Windows, such as the Browse Swaths window, the SWATH/Information window and
the REGION/ Information window. Any window can be printed by first copying the bit map to the
clipboard, and then using the clipboard option under the FILE/Print menu item.
The procedure is as follows:
1. Make sure the window you would like to print is open.
2. Use the ALT and PRINT_SCREEN key combination. This copies the bitmap
corresponding to the window to the Windows Clipboard.
3. Select FILE/Print/Clipboard
4. The clipboard dialogue box appears, showing a portion of the contents of the
clipboard for verification. To print, press the Print button. To cancel, press Cancel.
Exporting User Requests as ASCII Files

Menu Bar Selection: FILE/Export ASCII
In addition to User Request files stored as HTML files, User Requests may also be stored as ASCII text
files. Such files cannot be submitted directly to the Order Desk, but are useful for documentation
purposes, or as a means of transferring data into a mapping system, such as a Geographic Information
System (GIS).
One particular advantage of the ASCII file is that it gives actual geographical co-ordinates for the swath
outlines. On the other hand, the User Request file in HTML format contains only requested imaging
activities (defined in terms of orbital units), and can give different geographical outlines if a different
configuration file is used when the User Request file is loaded.
To export a User Request File as ASCII:
1. Select SWATH/Export ASCII. The file extension is .EXP by default.
The first line of each swath in the export file will define swaths in units that are currently
active as selected in the FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours menu.
The following is an example of an exported ASCII file containing three swaths in Fine
beam:

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1997-Apr-06 10:41:24.12 Ascending Fine Resolution (F1n) 00:00:15.46 Requested

8.242858S 115.631329E
9.151829S 115.848797E
9.065703S 116.367090E
8.157625S 116.148552E
1997-Apr-16 10:49:43.14 Ascending Fine Resolution (F5f) 00:00:07.21 Requested
8.738706S 115.326160E
9.161001S 115.429981E
9.086063S 115.867687E
8.664213S 115.763449E
1997-Apr-23 10:45:34.04 Ascending Fine Resolution (F5n) 00:00:12.97 Requested
8.255828S 116.138737E
9.016144S 116.324617E
8.940816S 116.766268E
8.181291S 116.579661E
The following information is given for each swath:
The date and time, the pass direction, the beam mode and beam position, the duration of
the swath, the status of swath ("Requested") and the latitude and longitude of the swath.
The "Frame" and "Table" Files

The Frame and Table files are created when a User Request file is saved if the FILE/Preferences/File
Locations option is activated for generating these files. These files are designed for use in RADARSAT
International's Quotation Tool for the purpose of creating Technical Proposals. However, other users
may use the information contained within these files. The format of theses files is slightly different than
the ASCII file and they contain additional information.
The following is an example of a Frame file containing the same three swaths as in the ASCII
example above:
"C:\lombok.frm","5",
"1", "04/06/1997 10:41:24.12" ,"128A", "F1N", "37.98", "3313", "100.0", "8.51.22S/116.02.50E",
"NW:8.38.47S/115.43.39E", "NE:8.33.38S/116.14.43E", "SW:9.09.07S/115.50.56E",
"SE:9.03.57S/116.22.02E","",
"2","04/06/1997 10:41:31.11", "128A", "F1N", "37.98", "2578", "79.1", "8.26.56S/115.56.58E",
"NW:8.14.34S/115.37.53E", "NE:8.09.27S/116.08.55E", "SW:8.44.25S/115.45.00E",
"SE:8.39.17S/116.16.04E","",
"3","04/16/1997 10:49:43.14", "271A", "F5F", "46.74", "1135", "48.4", "8.54.45S/115.35.49E",
"NW:8.44.19S/115.19.34E", "NE:8.39.51S/115.45.48E", "SW:9.09.40S/115.25.48E",
"SE:9.05.10S/115.52.04E","",
"4","04/23/1997 10:45:34.04", "28A", "F5N", "46.18", "1934", "80.4", "8.45.49S/116.29.34E",
"NW:8.35.11S/116.13.10E", "NE:8.30.41S/116.39.38E", "SW:9.00.58S/116.19.29E",
"SE:8.56.27S/116.45.59E","",
15-1
"5","04/23/1997 10:45:39.78", "28A", "F5N", "46.18", "2369", "99.7", "8.25.50S/116.24.40E",

"NW:8.15.21S/116.08.19E", "NE:8.10.53S/116.34.47E", "SW:8.40.48S/116.14.32E",
"SE:8.36.18S/116.41.01E",""
The Frame file contains information pertaining to individual frames and some additional
information including figures defining the percentage of coverage.
The first line contains the file name and the total number of frames in the swath plan. For each
frame, the following information is included:
Frame number, date and time, orbit number and pass direction, the beam position, the inner
incidence angle of the beam position, the number of square kilometres that the frame and the
selected region have in common, the same number in a percentage, the latitude and longitude of
the centre of the frame, and the latitude and longitude of the four corner points of the frame.
The following is an example of a Table file containing the same three swaths:
"C:\lombok.tbl","04/06/1997 10:41:24.12","00:15.46","128A","F1N","36.40 39.55","46.2","88.5","","NW:8.14.34S/115.37.53E","NE:8.09.27S/116.08.55E","SW:9.09.07S/115.50.56
E","SE:9.03.57S/116.22.02E","21","128.97239","0.00256","","","","3","Realtime
"C:\lombok.tbl","04/16/1997 10:49:43.14","00:07.21","271A","F5F","45.65 47.82","9.9","48.4","","NW:8.44.19S/115.19.34E","NE:8.39.51S/115.45.48E","SW:9.09.40S/115.25.48E"
,"SE:9.05.10S/115.52.04E","21","271.97160","0.00119","","","","3","Realtime
"C:\lombok.tbl","04/23/1997 10:45:34.04","00:12.97","28A","F5N","45.07 47.29","33.1","88.9","","NW:8.15.21S/116.08.19E","NE:8.10.53S/116.34.47E","SW:9.00.58S/116.19.29
E","SE:8.56.27S/116.45.59E","22","28.97206","0.00215","","","","3","Realtime"
The Table file contains information unique to the entire swath. For each swath, the following
information is included:
File name, date and time, duration of swath, orbit number, beam position, range of incidence
angles of the beam position, percentage coverage figures, longitude and latitude of the four
corner points of the swath, cycle number, orbit number, duration of swath in orbital units, the
number of swaths in the swath plan, and type of acquisition.

15-1
Chapter 16
Using the Timeline Window
Menu Bar Selection: VIEW/Timeline
The SPA Timeline window enables you to view complex acquisition plans chronologically, and identify
any imaging activities, which may conflict with your planning requirements. It is particularly suited for
viewing acquisition plans which involve more than one DRF visibility mask, and which extend over
multiple cycles (e.g., monitoring applications).
The Start and Stop fields correspond to the Generation Period you have specified. The Select button can
be used to enter a new period, or to toggle between various time modes (UTC time, Local Time,
Absolute Orbit, or Relative orbit).
The DRF bar displays the downlink activity of each DRF visibility mask available in the current session.
The Info button lists each of the masks currently available. Each vertical bar corresponds to a possible
imaging activity within the Network Station mask. After selection the DRF mask you want to work with
(View/DRFVisibility...) you need to generate a swath with the option "Restrict Generation to DRF Line
of Sight to obtain these DRF. imaging activities.
The Imaging Activities bar displays each requested image acquisition (if any) by a vertical bar. As
illustrated below, there are two kinds of vertical bars: long bars indicate image acquisition generated
using DRF Line of Sight option, and short bars indicate image acquisition which may or may not be
directly downlinked to a Data Reception Facility.

Part 5 Advanced Operations - Chapter 16: Using the Timeline Window
16-1
Viewing a Specific Imaging Activity

1. Select VIEW/Timeline.
2. Use your cursor to select the bar representing the image acquisition. The bar will change
colour once selected.
3. Select the lower Info button to display a Swath Information window.
4. Select the View Swath button to close the Timeline window and highlight the selected
swath in the map display.
Use the time advance/reverse arrows, Zoom In, Zoom All, Zoom Out to change the time
scale and period of the Imaging Activities bar.

Part 5 Advanced Operations - Chapter 16: Using the Timeline Window
16-1
Chapter 17
Advanced Use of Region Files
Main Menu Selections: REGION/Client Info and REGION/Generate
New functionality in the REGION menu allows the user to store specific client-oriented information in
the region files and generate swaths over theses regions through the REGION menu. To generate swaths
from the region menu, the Programming Section of the Client Information option must be complete. These
new REGION options have been added to the SPA for internal use at RSI. This allows the planners to
view multiple regions in one session, view information relative to that region and generate swaths over
those regions. It is designed as a tool to aid in Mission Planning. However, other users may also benefit
from this added functionality.
The information that can be stored in the region file is entered into a series of dialogue boxes: the Client
Information Section; the Programming Section; and the Processing Section. To add this information, the
region must have already been created and must be the active region for the session. The pick-lists that
are used in certain information fields can be edited to suit your own requirements. These pick-lists are
defined in the spa.ini file.
Adding Client Information to Region files

Menu Bar Selection: REGION/Client Info...
To add Client Information:
1. Use REGION/Browse and View the region for which you wish to enter information (this
will select the region to be the active region).
2. Select REGION/Client Info... or while in REGION Mode ("F3" key), click the right mouse
button and select Client Info... from the pop-up menu. The first dialogue box (Client
Information) will appear. This section contains data relevant to the client and the client's
application.
3. Enter information into
each field. Some fields
are free text; some fields
have pick-lists, (those
fields with an arrow
button at the right side of
the input box, the picklists are defined in the

Part 5 Advanced Operations Chapter 17: Advanced Use of Region Files
17-1
spa.ini file); and some fields have strict format requirements (defined to the right of the
input box).
4. When all information is entered in the Client Information section, click on the
Programming Section button to bring on the next dialogue box.
5. The Programming Section contains information relevant to the programming choices

dictated by the client or the client's application. When entering the beam positions, use
the pick-list to define a range of suitable beam positions. Enter a range of suitable dates
for the acquisitions (the format is YY-MMM-DD, 24 days will yield a complete cycle and
therefore all imaging possibilities). Enter either Asc or Des in both boxes if only
Ascending/Descending passes are acceptable, or enter Asc in the first box and Des in the
second box if either pass direction is acceptable. Then click on the Add button. Multiple
programming scenarios can be entered by repeating this process. The box below the entry
fields summarizes each programming scenario defined. If you make a mistake entering a
programming scenario,
highlight the incorrect
scenario and click on
the Remove button.
6. Click on OK when you
have finished entering

17-1
programming scenarios and then click on the Processing Section button and the next box
will appear.
7. The Processing Section contains information relevant to the end data product. Use the
pick-lists to define the end data product then click on OK.
8. After closing the Client Info dialogue box, be sure to save the region file to permanently
save the data you have just entered. Select REGION/Save As and enter the region name in
the Windows dialogue box. Answer Yes to the Overwrite File? prompt.
Generating Swaths from the REGION Menu

Menu Bar Selection: REGION/Generate
Region files that have the information fields completed and attached to the file can be used to generate
swaths from the REGION/Generate option. For the REGION/Generate option to work, the Default
Generation Period (in FILE/Preferences/Units and Colours) must be set to include the period of time that
is defined for acquisitions in the region file.
To generate swaths from the region file:
1. Ensure that the current operating mode is set to REGION (select REGION or use the "F3"
key).
2. Use REGION/Browse to set the desired region as the "active" region.
3. Select REGION/Generate (or click the right mouse button and select Generate from the
pop-up menu) and the following dialogue box will appear:

17-1
4. Highlight the programming scenario you wish to work with. Activate the correct Signal
button and click either the Search Catalogue or the Generate button, depending on
whether your acquisitions are in the future or the past.
5. The SPA will begin generating swaths over your region as in the SWATH/Generate
function.

17-1
Appendices
APPENDIX A - List of Short-cut Keys

The following keys invoke the Menu Options, Sub-Menu Options and Operating Modes (to activate the
Sub-Menu short-cut keys, the Main Menu must be active).
Alt+F
Alt+N
Alt+O
Alt+S
Alt+A
Alt+U
Alt+C
Alt+E
Alt+P
Alt+X
FILE
New
Open
Save
Save As
Import User Request
Import Catalogue
Export ASCII File
Print
Exit
Alt+E
F2
F3
F4
F10
F10
Delete
Ctl+Delete
EDIT
View Mode
Region Mode
Swath Mode
in Tag Swath mode - toggles through image swaths within an accessibility
swath
in Edit Swath mode - toggles through overlying accessibility swaths
Delete (one swath)
Delete All (all swaths)
Alt+V
Alt+O
Alt+R
Alt+A
Alt+S
Alt+E
Alt+D
Alt+B
Alt+I
Alt+C
Alt+G
VIEW
Display Options
Redraw Display
Open All
Save As
Edit
Digitize
Browse
Information
Client Information
Generate
Alt+R
Alt+N
Alt+O
Alt+A
Alt+S
REGION
New
Open
Open All
Save As

Appendix A
A-1
Alt+E
Alt+D
Alt+B
Alt+I
Alt+C
Alt+G
Edit
Digitize
Browse
Information
Client Info
Generate
Alt+S
Alt+G
F5
F6
F7
F8
Alt+D or Ctl+V
Alt+E
Alt+D
Alt+D
SWATH
Generate
Tag Swath - works only on a highlighted swath
Edit Swath - works only on a highlighted swath
Split Swath - works only on a highlighted swath
Edit Frame- (not currently in use)
View Only - works only on a highlighted swath
Copy Forward - works only on a highlighted swath
Browse
Information
Alt+M
Alt+N
Alt+S
Alt+I
Alt+G
Alt+A
Alt+T
FRAMING
None
Standard Georeferenced
ICEC Georeferenced
Geocoded- (not currently in use)
Add Frame - (not currently in use)
Apply to All Swaths

Appendix A
A-1
APPENDIX B - Test Evaluation

Your suggestions for improvements are welcome. Please address all comments to:
RADARSAT International
Suite 200, 3851 Shell Road
Richmond, BC V6X 2W2
E-mail: Spa@rsi.ca
Tel: (604) 231-5000
Fax: (604) 231-4900
Part 1 - RADARSAT Swath Planner Manual
1. How would you rate the utility of this document for learning how to use the RADARSAT Swath Planner?
Excellent
Very Good
Satisfactory
Poor
2. What chapters or topics, if any, require further development/clarification? Please explain:
3. Did you encounter any functions of the RADARSAT Swath Planner which are not satisfactorily addressed
in this manual?
4. Did you find Chapters 10 - 14 (Planning Examples) helpful in learning how to use the software?

Appendix B
B-1
Part 2 - RADARSAT Swath Planner Software

1. How effective is the RADARSAT Swath Planner for planning your RADARSAT acquisitions? Please
explain.
Excellent
Very Good
Satisfactory
Poor
2. Did you encounter any programming errors ("bugs") with version 2.8r1 of the software?
3. Did you find any aspects of the RADARSAT Swath Planner Software confusing, redundant or inadequate?
4. Please list any other questions, comments or suggestions you may have:
Optional
Name:
Job Title:
Organization:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:

Appendix B
B-2
APPENDIX C - Regional Overlays

General Description
The SPA has two different scales of overlays: a global coastline overlay and 17 sets of regional overlays.
The global overlay is displayed on the world map and is useful for working at small scales. However, to
zoom in on a small area, the regional overlays are recommended.
The 2 most-commonly used regional overlays display coastlines and political borders at a scale large
enough to identify a specific area of interest. There are also overlays for rivers, drainage basins and
geographic place names; however, these overlays are only useful at scales larger than 1:500,000. The
naming convention used for geographic overlays is "name_#.geo": "name" refers to the geographic area;
"#" refers to the type of overlay:
1 - political borders, administrative area
2 - coastlines
3 - rivers
4 - drainage basins/lakes
5 - text (place names)
The boundaries of the regional overlays are drawn on the following pages in alphabetical order:
antarc
arctic
austra
canusa
euratl
indchi
mexcar
mideas
nafric
nnamer
npacif
nsamer
rusasi
safric
seasia
spacif
ssamer

Appendix C
C-1
ANTARC
Lat : from 90S to 65 S
ARCTIC
Lat : from 90N to 75 N

Appendix C
C-2
AUSTRA
Lat : from 10S to 65S ; Long : from 60E to 180E ;
CANUSA
Lat : from 25N to 60N ; Long : from 53W to 130W

Appendix C
C-2
EURATL
Lat : from 35N to 75N ; Long : from 40W to 30E
INDCHI
Lat : from 10S to 50N ; Long : from 65E to 120E

Appendix C
C-2
MEXCAR
Lat : from 10N to 25N ; Long : from 112W to 58W
MIDEAS

Appendix C
C-2
NAFRIC
Lat : from 10S to 35N ; Long : from 25W to 30E
NNAMER Lat : from 51/60N to 75N ; Long : from 180/130W to 40E

Appendix C
C-2
NPACIF
NSAMER
Lat : from 15S to 10N ; Long : from 95W to 30W

Appendix C
C-2
RUSASI
Lat : from 40/50N to 75N ; Long : from 30/40E to 180E
SAFRIC
Lat : from 10S to 65S ; Long : from 15W to 60E

Appendix C
C-2
SEASIA
SPACIF
Lat : from 10S to 45S ; Long : from 180E to 120W

Appendix C
C-2
SSAMER
Lat : from 15S to 55S ; Long : from 85W to 30W

Appendix C
C-2
APPENDIX D - Beam Widths

BEAM
POSITION
Realtime
Incidence
Angle
Recorded
Incidence
Angle
Realtime
Displayed
(SPA) Beam
Width (in
Kms)
Recorded
Displayed
(SPA) Beam
Width (in
Kms)
Realtime
Average
Product
Beam Width
(in Kms)
Recorded
Average
Product
Beam Width
(in Kms)
Fine 1 Near
Fine 1
36.4 - 39.5
36.8 - 39.9
36.3 - 38.9
37.2 - 39.6
58
57
45
45
57
45
Fine 1 Far
Fine 2 Near
Fine 2
Fine 2 Far
Fine 3 Near
Fine 3
Fine 3 Far
Fine 4 Near
Fine 4
Fine 4 Far
Fine 5 Near
Fine 5
Fine 5 Far
37.2 -40.3
38.9 - 41.8
39.3 - 42.1
39.6 - 42.5
41.1 - 43.7
41.5 - 44.0
41.8 - 44.3
43.2 - 45.5
43.5 - 45.8
43.8 - 46.1
45.0 - 47.3
45.3 - 47.5
45.6 - 47.8
38.0 - 40.3
38.9 - 41.1
39.6 - 41.8
40.3 - 42.5
41.1 - 43.1
41.8 - 43.7
42.5 - 44.4
43.2 - 45.0
43.8 - 45.6
44.4 - 46.1
45.0 - 46.8
45.6 - 47.3
46.2 - 47.8
57
56
56
55
52
51
51
50
50
50
49
49
49
44
43
42
42
39
39
38
38
37
37
39
38
38
56
42
51
39
50
37
49
38
Standard 1
Standard 2
19.4 - 26.8
24.1 - 30.9
= realtime
= realtime
104
104
= realtime
= realtime
114
113
= realtime
= realtime
Standard 3
Standard 4
Standard 5
Standard 6
Standard 7
31.0 - 37.0
33.6 - 39.4
36.4 - 41.9
41.7 - 46.5
44.7 - 49.2
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
101
103
103
100
102
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
111
112
112
109
112
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
= realtime
Wide 1
Wide 2
Wide 3
19.3 - 30.2
30.1 - 38.9
38.9 - 45.1
= realtime
31.4 - 38.8
= realtime
159
149
125
= realtime
127
not available
184
161
112
ScanSAR
Narrow A
ScanSAR
Narrow B
19.3 - 38.9
19.3 - 38.8
307
289
335
315
30.1 - 46.5
= realtime
304
= realtime
299
= realtime
ScanSAR Wide
A
ScanSAR Wide
B
19.3 - 49.2
not available
524
not available
518
19.3 - 46.5
= realtime
461
= realtime
481
Remarks
* average product width of fine beams is equal to

displayed width in SPA, use overlap to account for +/- 5 km
satellite drift
* average product width of standard beams is 10km greater

than displayed width in SPA to account for +/- 5 km satellite
drift
= realtime * average product width of wide beams is 10km greater

137
than displayed width to account for +/- 5 km satellite drift
not available not recommened due to nadir ambiguity
composite of W1 & W2
composite of W2, S5 & S6
not available composite of W1, W2, W3 & S7

= realtime
composite of W1, W2, S5 & S6
Extended Low 1
10.4 - 22.0
= realtime
154
= realtime
167
= realtime
* average product width of extended beams is 10km greater

than displayed width to account for +/- 5 km satellite drift
SGF products only
Extended
1
Extended
2
Extended
3
Extended
4
Extended
5
Extended
6
High
49.0 - 52.4
= realtime
85
= realtime
not available
= realtime
not currently available
High
50.0 - 53.5
= realtime
90
= realtime
not available
= realtime
High
51.2 - 54.6
= realtime
90
= realtime
102
= realtime
SGF products only
High
54.4 - 57.1
= realtime
80
= realtime
90
= realtime
SGF products only
High
55.5 - 58.2
= realtime
80
= realtime
not available
= realtime
High
56.9 - 59.4
= realtime
80
= realtime
93
= realtime
SGF products only

Appendix D
D-1

Appendix D
D-1
APPENDIX E:
DAY #
1
Rel.
Dec/Jan 17
Cycle #
32
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
351
Jan/Feb 10
33
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
10
Feb
3
34
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
34
Feb/Mar 27
35
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
58
Mar/Apr 23
36
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
82
Apr/May 16
37
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
106
May/Jun 10
38
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
130
Jun
3
39
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
154
Jun/Jul 27
40
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
178
Jul/Aug 21
41
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
202
Aug/Sep 14
42
Rel.
5.29
Orbit #
7
J.D.
226
Calendar of Orbits (1998) 24 day cycle; planning day 21:00 UTC to 21:00
- Calendar Date
- Cycle/Orbit # - Julian Date 2
18
3
19
4
20
5
21
6
22
7
23
8
24
9
25
10
26
11
27
12
28
13
29
14
30
15
31
16
1
17
2
18
3
19
4
20
5
21
6
22
7
23
8
24
9
19.58
9
352
11
19.58
9
11
4
19.58
9
35
28
19.58
9
59
24
19.58
9
83
17
19.58
9
107
11
19.58
9
131
4
19.58
9
155
28
19.58
9
179
22
19.58
9
203
15
19.58
9
227
33.88
0
353
12
33.88
0
12
5
33.88
0
36
1
33.88
0
60
25
33.88
0
84
18
33.88
0
108
12
33.88
0
132
5
33.88
0
156
29
33.88
0
180
23
33.88
0
204
16
33.88
0
228
48.17
2
354
13
48.17
2
13
6
48.17
2
37
2
48.17
2
61
26
48.17
2
85
19
48.17
2
109
13
48.17
2
133
6
48.17
2
157
30
48.17
2
181
24
48.17
2
205
17
48.17
2
229
62.46
4
355
14
62.46
4
14
7
62.46
4
38
3
62.46
4
62
27
62.46
4
86
20
62.46
4
110
14
62.46
4
134
7
62.46
4
158
1
62.46
4
182
25
62.46
4
206
18
62.46
4
230
76.75
5
356
15
76.75
5
15
8
76.75
5
39
4
76.75
5
63
28
76.75
5
87
21
76.75
5
111
15
76.75
5
135
8
76.75
5
159
2
76.75
5
183
26
76.75
5
207
19
76.75
5
231
91.04
7
357
16
91.04
7
16
9
91.04
7
40
5
91.04
7
64
29
91.04
7
88
22
91.04
7
112
16
91.04
7
136
9
91.04
7
160
3
91.04
7
184
27
91.04
7
208
20
91.04
7
232
105.3
39
358
17
105.3
39
17
10
105.3
39
41
6
105.3
39
65
30
105.3
39
89
23
105.3
39
113
17
105.3
39
137
10
105.3
39
161
4
105.3
39
185
28
105.3
39
209
21
105.3
39
233
119.63
0
359
18
119.63
0
18
11
119.63
0
42
7
119.63
0
66
31
119.63
0
90
24
119.63
0
114
18
119.63
0
138
11
119.63
0
162
5
119.63
0
186
29
119.63
0
210
22
119.63
0
234
133.9
22
360
19
133.9
22
19
12
133.9
22
43
8
133.9
22
67
1
133.9
22
91
25
133.9
22
115
19
133.9
22
139
12
133.9
22
163
6
133.9
22
187
30
133.9
22
211
23
133.9
22
235
148.2
14
361
20
148.2
14
20
13
148.2
14
44
9
148.2
14
68
2
148.2
14
92
26
148.2
14
116
20
148.2
14
140
13
148.2
14
164
7
148.2
14
188
31
148.2
14
212
24
148.2
14
236
162.5
05
362
21
162.5
05
21
14
162.5
05
45
10
162.5
05
69
3
162.5
05
93
27
162.5
05
117
21
162.5
05
141
14
162.5
05
165
8
162.5
05
189
1
162.5
05
213
25
162.5
05
237
176.7
97
363
22
176.7
97
22
15
176.7
97
46
11
176.7
97
70
4
176.7
97
94
28
176.7
97
118
22
176.7
97
142
15
176.7
97
166
9
176.7
97
190
2
176.7
97
214
26
176.7
97
238
191.0
89
364
23
191.0
89
23
16
191.0
89
47
12
191.0
89
71
5
191.0
89
95
29
191.0
89
119
23
191.0
89
143
16
191.0
89
167
10
191.0
89
191
3
191.0
89
215
27
191.0
89
239
205.3
80
365
24
205.3
80
24
17
205.3
80
48
13
205.3
80
72
6
205.3
80
96
30
205.3
80
120
24
205.3
80
144
17
205.3
80
168
11
205.3
80
192
4
205.3
80
216
28
205.3
80
240
219.6
72
1
25
219.6
72
25
18
219.6
72
49
14
219.6
72
73
7
219.6
72
97
1
219.6
72
121
25
219.6
72
145
18
219.6
72
169
12
219.6
72
193
5
219.6
72
217
29
219.6
72
241
233.9
64
2
26
233.9
64
26
19
233.9
64
50
15
233.9
64
74
8
233.9
64
98
2
233.9
64
122
26
233.9
64
146
19
233.9
64
170
13
233.9
64
194
6
233.9
64
218
30
233.9
64
242
248.2
55
3
27
248.2
55
27
20
248.2
55
51
16
248.2
55
75
9
248.2
55
99
3
248.2
55
123
27
248.2
55
147
20
248.2
55
171
14
248.2
55
195
7
248.2
55
219
31
248.2
55
243
262.5
47
4
28
262.5
47
28
21
262.5
47
52
17
262.5
47
76
10
262.5
47
100
4
262.5
47
124
28
262.5
47
148
21
262.5
47
172
15
262.5
47
196
8
262.5
47
220
1
262.5
47
244
276.8
39
5
29
276.8
39
29
22
276.8
39
53
18
276.8
39
77
11
276.8
39
101
5
276.8
39
125
29
276.8
39
149
22
276.8
39
173
16
276.8
39
197
9
276.8
39
221
2
276.8
39
245
291.1
30
6
30
291.1
30
30
23
291.1
30
54
19
291.1
30
78
12
291.1
30
102
6
291.1
30
126
30
291.1
30
150
23
291.1
30
174
17
291.1
30
198
10
291.1
30
222
3
291.1
30
246
305.4
22
7
31
305.4
22
31
24
305.4
22
55
20
305.4
22
79
13
305.4
22
103
7
305.4
22
127
31
305.4
22
151
24
305.4
22
175
18
305.4
22
199
11
305.4
22
223
4
305.4
22
247
319.7
14
8
1
319.7
14
32
25
319.7
14
56
21
319.7
14
80
14
319.7
14
104
8
319.7
14
128
1
319.7
14
152
25
319.7
14
176
19
319.7
14
200
12
319.7
14
224
5
319.7
14
248
334.00
5
9
2
334.00
5
33
26
334.00
5
57
22
334.00
5
81
15
334.00
5
105
9
334.00
5
129
2
334.00
5
153
26
334.00
5
177
20
334.00
5
201
13
334.00
5
225
6
334.00
5
249
43
44
45
46
46
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
Sep
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Oct
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Oct/Nov
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Nov/Dec
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Dec/Jan
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
May/Jun
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Jun
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Jun/Jul
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Jul/Aug
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Aug/Sep
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Sep
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Oct
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Oct/Nov
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Nov/Dec
7
5.29
7
250
1
5.29
7
274
25
5.29
7
298
18
5.29
7
322
12
5.29
7
346
10
5.29
7
130
3
5.29
7
154
27
5.29
7
178
21
5.29
7
202
14
5.29
7
226
7
5.29
7
250
1
5.29
7
274
25
5.29
7
298
18
8
19.58
9
251
2
19.58
9
275
26
19.58
9
299
19
19.58
9
323
13
19.58
9
347
11
19.58
9
131
4
19.58
9
155
28
19.58
9
179
22
19.58
9
203
15
19.58
9
227
8
19.58
9
251
2
19.58
9
275
26
19.58
9
299
19
9
33.88
0
252
3
33.88
0
276
27
33.88
0
300
20
33.88
0
324
14
33.88
0
348
12
33.88
0
132
5
33.88
0
156
29
33.88
0
180
23
33.88
0
204
16
33.88
0
228
9
33.88
0
252
3
33.88
0
276
27
33.88
0
300
20
10
48.17
2
253
4
48.17
2
277
28
48.17
2
301
21
48.17
2
325
15
48.17
2
349
13
48.17
2
133
6
48.17
2
157
30
48.17
2
181
24
48.17
2
205
17
48.17
2
229
10
48.17
2
253
4
48.17
2
277
28
48.17
2
301
21
11
62.46
4
254
5
62.46
4
278
29
62.46
4
302
22
62.46
4
326
16
62.46
4
350
14
62.46
4
134
7
62.46
4
158
1
62.46
4
182
25
62.46
4
206
18
62.46
4
230
11
62.46
4
254
5
62.46
4
278
29
62.46
4
302
22
12
76.75
5
255
6
76.75
5
279
30
76.75
5
303
23
76.75
5
327
17
76.75
5
351
15
76.75
5
135
8
76.75
5
159
2
76.75
5
183
26
76.75
5
207
19
76.75
5
231
12
76.75
5
255
6
76.75
5
279
30
76.75
5
303
23
13
91.04
7
256
7
91.04
7
280
31
91.04
7
304
24
91.04
7
328
18
91.04
7
352
16
91.04
7
136
9
91.04
7
160
3
91.04
7
184
27
91.04
7
208
20
91.04
7
232
13
91.04
7
256
7
91.04
7
280
31
91.04
7
304
24
14
105.3
39
257
8
105.3
39
281
1
105.3
39
305
25
105.3
39
329
19
105.3
39
353
17
105.3
39
137
10
105.3
39
161
4
105.3
39
185
28
105.3
39
209
21
105.3
39
233
14
105.3
39
257
8
105.3
39
281
1
105.3
39
305
25
15
119.63
0
258
9
119.63
0
282
2
119.63
0
306
26
119.63
0
330
20
119.63
0
354
18
119.63
0
138
11
119.63
0
162
5
119.63
0
186
29
119.63
0
210
22
119.63
0
234
15
119.63
0
258
9
119.63
0
282
2
119.63
0
306
26
16
133.9
22
259
10
133.9
22
283
3
133.9
22
307
27
133.9
22
331
21
133.9
22
355
19
133.9
22
139
12
133.9
22
163
6
133.9
22
187
30
133.9
22
211
23
133.9
22
235
16
133.9
22
259
10
133.9
22
283
3
133.9
22
307
27
17
148.2
14
260
11
148.2
14
284
4
148.2
14
308
28
148.2
14
332
22
148.2
14
356
20
148.2
14
140
13
148.2
14
164
7
148.2
14
188
31
148.2
14
212
24
148.2
14
236
17
148.2
14
260
11
148.2
14
284
4
148.2
14
308
28
18
162.5
05
261
12
162.5
05
285
5
162.5
05
309
29
162.5
05
333
23
162.5
05
357
21
162.5
05
141
14
162.5
05
165
8
162.5
05
189
1
162.5
05
213
25
162.5
05
237
18
162.5
05
261
12
162.5
05
285
5
162.5
05
309
29
19
176.7
97
262
13
176.7
97
286
6
176.7
97
310
30
176.7
97
334
24
176.7
97
358
22
176.7
97
142
15
176.7
97
166
9
176.7
97
190
2
176.7
97
214
26
176.7
97
238
19
176.7
97
262
13
176.7
97
286
6
176.7
97
310
30
20
191.0
89
263
14
191.0
89
287
7
191.0
89
311
1
191.0
89
335
25
191.0
89
359
23
191.0
89
143
16
191.0
89
167
10
191.0
89
191
3
191.0
89
215
27
191.0
89
239
20
191.0
89
263
14
191.0
89
287
7
191.0
89
311
1
21
205.3
80
264
15
205.3
80
288
8
205.3
80
312
2
205.3
80
336
26
205.3
80
360
24
205.3
80
144
17
205.3
80
168
11
205.3
80
192
4
205.3
80
216
28
205.3
80
240
21
205.3
80
264
15
205.3
80
288
8
205.3
80
312
2
22
219.6
72
265
16
219.6
72
289
9
219.6
72
313
3
219.6
72
337
27
219.6
72
361
25
219.6
72
145
18
219.6
72
169
12
219.6
72
193
5
219.6
72
217
29
219.6
72
241
22
219.6
72
265
16
219.6
72
289
9
219.6
72
313
3
23
233.9
64
266
17
233.9
64
290
10
233.9
64
314
4
233.9
64
338
28
233.9
64
362
26
233.9
64
146
19
233.9
64
170
13
233.9
64
194
6
233.9
64
218
30
233.9
64
242
23
233.9
64
266
17
233.9
64
290
10
233.9
64
314
4
24
248.2
55
267
18
248.2
55
291
11
248.2
55
315
5
248.2
55
339
29
248.2
55
363
27
248.2
55
147
20
248.2
55
171
14
248.2
55
195
7
248.2
55
219
31
248.2
55
243
24
248.2
55
267
18
248.2
55
291
11
248.2
55
315
5
25
262.5
47
268
19
262.5
47
292
12
262.5
47
316
6
262.5
47
340
30
262.5
47
364
28
262.5
47
148
21
262.5
47
172
15
262.5
47
196
8
262.5
47
220
1
262.5
47
244
25
262.5
47
268
19
262.5
47
292
12
262.5
47
316
6
26
276.8
39
269
20
276.8
39
293
13
276.8
39
317
7
276.8
39
341
31
276.8
39
365
29
276.8
39
149
22
276.8
39
173
16
276.8
39
197
9
276.8
39
221
2
276.8
39
245
26
276.8
39
269
20
276.8
39
293
13
276.8
39
317
7
27
291.1
30
270
21
291.1
30
294
14
291.1
30
318
8
291.1
30
342
1
291.1
30
1
30
291.1
30
150
23
291.1
30
174
17
291.1
30
198
10
291.1
30
222
3
291.1
30
246
27
291.1
30
270
21
291.1
30
294
14
291.1
30
318
8
28
305.4
22
271
22
305.4
22
295
15
305.4
22
319
9
305.4
22
343
2
305.4
22
2
31
305.4
22
151
24
305.4
22
175
18
305.4
22
199
11
305.4
22
223
4
305.4
22
247
28
305.4
22
271
22
305.4
22
295
15
305.4
22
319
9
29
319.7
14
272
23
319.7
14
296
16
319.7
14
320
10
319.7
14
344
3
319.7
14
3
1
319.7
14
152
25
319.7
14
176
19
319.7
14
200
12
319.7
14
224
5
319.7
14
248
29
319.7
14
272
23
319.7
14
296
16
319.7
14
320
10
30
334.00
5
273
24
334.00
5
297
17
334.00
5
321
11
334.00
5
345
4
334.00
5
4
2
334.00
5
153
26
334.00
5
177
20
334.00
5
201
13
334.00
5
225
6
334.00
5
249
30
334.00
5
273
24
334.00
5
297
17
334.00
5
321
11
46
47
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
Dec/Jan
Rel.
Orbit #
J.D.
5.29
7
322
12
5.29
7
346
19.58
9
323
13
19.58
9
347
33.88
0
324
14
33.88
0
348
48.17
2
325
15
48.17
2
349
62.46
4
326
16
62.46
4
350
76.75
5
327
17
76.75
5
351
91.04 105.3 119.63 133.9 148.2 162.5 176.7 191.0 205.3 219.6 233.9 248.2 262.5 276.8 291.1 305.4 319.7 334.00
7
39
0
22
14
05
97
89
80
72
64
55
47
39
30
22
14
5
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
91.04 105.3 119.63 133.9 148.2 162.5 176.7 191.0 205.3 219.6 233.9 248.2 262.5 276.8 291.1 305.4 319.7 334.00
7
39
0
22
14
05
97
89
80
72
64
55
47
39
30
22
14
5
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
1
2
3
4
APPENDIX F - RADARSAT's Orbit and Sub-Cycles

RADARSAT has a circular, near-polar sun-synchronous orbit.
A repeat cycle is 24 days (after 24 days, RADARSAT will pass over the exact same ground track)
There are 343 orbits in a complete 24-day cycle.
There are 14 7/24 (14.29) orbits in 24 hours.
One orbit takes 100.77 min (1 hour 40 minutes and 46 secs).
RADARSAT ground tracks move westward as the sun moves westward around the globe.
The figure below illustrates the westward movement of ground tracks during just over a 24-hour period
(15 orbits). The ground track of orbit #2 passes the equator 1 hour, 40 minutes and 46 secs after orbit #1.
Note the gaps between ground tracks. At the equator, successive ground tracks are separated by 4,452.8
km.
RADARSAT ground tracks after 24 hours (15 orbits)

At the end of a complete orbit cycle, these gaps will be filled in with subsequent orbits. After one
complete cycle, at the equator, the distance between adjacent ground tracks is 116.84 km. However, as
latitude increases, the distance between adjacent ground tracks decreases as they begin to converge at
Appendix D
F-1

Appendix D
F-1
the poles (see Appendix E Calendar of Orbits/Latitude vs. Groundtrack Separation/Degree to Minute
Conversion ).
RADARSAT's orbit has a seven-day primary sub-cycle as well as a three-day and four-day secondary
sub-cycle. These sub-cycles influence the revisit schedule and the coverage capabilities for any given
area. Some understanding of the sub-cycle configuration is helpful in assessing RADARSAT's coverage
capabilities.
The following figure shows the Standard Beam Image swaths, which would appear over a 10-day period
illustrating the seven-day, three-day and four-day sub-cycles.
The seven-day primary sub-cycle describes the time interval required between passes over adjacent
ground tracks. It takes seven days for an adjacent ground track to appear to the east of the original
ground track. This is also referred to as a seven-day eastward step.
Beams [1 & 6], [2 & 7] and [3 & 8] illustrate the seven-day sub-cycle. Beam 1 appears on Day 1 and
Beam 6 appears seven days later on Day 8. Beam 6, the adjacent beam to Beam 1, lies 116.84 km to the
east of Beam 1. This is the seven-day eastward step.
The three-day secondary sub-cycle describes the time interval required between passes over three times
the distance between adjacent ground tracks. (At the equator, adjacent ground tracks are separated by

Appendix D
F-2
116.84 km, three times this distance is 3 x 116.84km or 350.52 km.) It takes three days for the ground
track to appear to the west of the original track that is three times the distance between adjacent ground
tracks. This is also referred to as a three-day westward step.
Beams [2 & 4], [3 & 5], [4 & 6], [5 & 7] illustrate the three-day sub-cycle. Beam 2 appears on Day 2
and Beam 4 appears 3 days later on Day 5. Beam 4 lies 360.5 km (3 x 116 km) to the west of Beam 2.
The four-day secondary sub-cycle describes the time interval required between passes over four times
the distance between adjacent ground tracks. (At the equator, adjacent ground tracks are separated by
116.84 km, four times this distance is 4 x 116.84km or 467.36 km.) It takes four days for a ground track
to appear to the east of the original track that is four times the distance between adjacent ground tracks.
This is also referred to as a four-day eastward step.
Beams [1 & 4], [4 & 7], [2 &5], [5 & 8] illustrate the four-day sub-cycle. Beam 1 appears on Day 5 and
Beam 4 appears four days later on Day 5. Beam 4 lies 467 km (4 x 116 km) to the east of Beam 1.
The following figure illustrates the Standard Beam Image swaths after 24 days. This figure illustrates
the complete pattern of sub-cycles. Adjacent image swaths are separated by seven days. The three-day
sub-cycle is visible by looking at image swaths separated by three days. The four-day sub-cycle is
visible by looking at image swaths separated by four days.

Appendix D
F-3
The following series of figures illustrates the pattern of ground tracks at global and regional scales using
both ascending and descending orbits. As the time period increases from 3 days to 24 days (a complete
orbit cycle), the gaps between neighbouring ground tracks decrease and the pattern of criss-crossing
ground tracks becomes more complex.
The first figure illustrates the RADARSAT ground tracks at a global scale after 3 days (43 orbits). Note
that the distance between neighbouring ground tracks is reduced as subsequent orbits fill in the gaps
between passes (as compared to the first figure illustrating the RADARSAT ground tracks after 15
orbits).
RADARSAT ground tracks after 3 days (43 orbits)- global coverage

The following figures illustrate the RADARSAT ground tracks after seven days (101 orbits) at two
different scales: global coverage and regional coverage over Africa. The distance between neighbouring
ground tracks is further reduced and the pattern of intersecting tracks becomes more complex. After
seven days, the orbit, which is adjacent to the 1st ground track (orbit #101), passes over the equator.

Appendix D
F-4
RADARSAT ground tracks after 7 days (101 orbits) - Global Scale
RADARSAT ground tracks after 7 days (101 orbits) - over Africa

Appendix D
F-5
The following figures illustrate the RADARSAT ground tracks after 14 days (201 orbits) and after 24
days (343 orbits). Note that the distance between neighbouring ground tracks is further reduced and the
pattern of intersecting tracks becomes more complex.
RADARSAT ground tracks after 14 days (201 orbits)- over Africa

Appendix D
F-6
RADARSAT ground tracks after a complete cycle of 24 days (343 orbits). The ground tracks from the
next cycle will lie over top of the tracks from the first cycle.

Appendix D
F-7
GLOSSARY
A
Acquired
A term describing data, which has been collected, successfully

transmitted and stored at a data reception facility.
Acquisition Plan
A set of tagged swaths which meet a particular coverage objective.
Acquisition strip
The rectangular outline of a RADARSAT beam as it would appear

on the ground marking the area where the collection of radar data
can occur during a specific portion of the RADARSAT mission.
Implies a fixed beam position of previously acquired data.
Accessibility Swath
All of the possible image swaths or (beam positions) available for a

beam mode. For Standard beam, there are seven possible image
swaths within the accessibility swath.
Archive Image Strip
The rectangular outline of data, which has been successfully

transmitted and stored at a data reception facility.
Ascending Pass
The northward-travelling half of an orbit
Beam Mode
A particular operating state of RADARSAT intended to provide

images of a certain size and resolution over a range of incidence
angles. Most Beam Modes have several beam positions to choose
from. The Beam Modes of RADARSAT are Fine, Standard, Wide,
ScanSAR Narrow, ScanSAR Wide, Extended High and Extended
Low.
Beam (position)
A sub-state of an Imaging Mode, which provides a specific width

of swath over a particular position on the ground. As an example,
STANDARD MODE offers seven different beam positions.
Beam Footprint
The outline on the ground, which represents the geographic

coverage of a swath.

Glossary
G-1
C
Catalogue Image Strip
The coverage strip which corresponds to data which have already

been acquired, or which will be acquired as part of the official
mission plan.
Descending Pass
The southward-travelling half of an orbit.
Data Reception Facility
An installation on the ground used to receive image data. When

RADARSAT is within "line of sight", there is a direct path to the
Data Reception Facility and data can be transmitted as it is
collected, or during replay of one of the on-board tape recorders.
DRF
An acronym for Data Reception Facility
DRF Visibility Mask
A polygon surrounding the DRF which defines the reception range

within which data can be "downlinked" (transmitted from
RADARSAT to the DRF). When the point directly below
RADARSAT is within the DRF Visibility Mask, downlink is
possible.
Far Range
The portion of the radar image furthest from the satellite ground
track
Framing
The act of dividing swaths into segments which can be delivered as

individual image products to the user.
Ground Track
The line traced out on the Earth over time by the point directly
below the satellite.
HTML
Hyper Text Mark-up Language

Glossary
G-1
I
Imaging Mode
A particular operating state of RADARSAT intended to provide

images of a certain size and level of detail over a range of
incidence angles. Most Imaging Modes have several image swaths
to choose from. The usual Imaging Modes of RADARSAT are
Fine, Standard, Wide, ScanSAR Narrow, ScanSAR Wide,
Extended High and Extended Low.
Image Swath
One specifc part of the accessibility swath. It is defined by a range

of incidence angles and beam width.
Image Strip

on the ground marking the area where the collection of radar data
can occur during a specific portion of the RADARSAT mission.
Incidence Angle
The angle between the vertical at a given point on the Earth and
the line from that point to the satellite when the satellite is
broadside to the point. For a given swath, the near edge
corresponds to a minimum incidence angle, while the far edge
corresponds to a maximum incidence angle.
Local Time
The time of day in use at a particular place of interest.
Look Direction
The angle between geographic North and the direction in which the
radar beam is pointing.
Map Projection
A system by which the curved shape of the Earth is mapped to a

flat surface in order to make a two-dimensional map.
Mode
See Imaging Mode
Near Range
The portion of the radar image closest to the satellite ground track

Glossary
G-1
O
Orbit
The path around the Earth followed by the satellite
Repeat Orbit Cycle
The point at which the satellite begins to re-trace its original orbit
around the Earth - 343 orbits or 24 days.
Region of Interest
The Region of Interest (ROI) is a polygon on the Earth's surface

which defines the geographic coverage desired by the data user.
The ROI can be used to constrain swath generation to those swaths
which could contribute to coverage of the ROI.
RSI
An acronym for RADARSAT International
SPA
An acronym for Swath Planner Application
Swath

on the ground marking the area where radar data is collected
during a specific portion of the RADARSAT mission.
Swath Plan
The Swath Plan is a set of tagged swaths which meets a particular

coverage objective. The Swath Plan is saved in a User Request
File.
Tagging
An operation of the SPA whereby the user identifies particular

beams as part of the swath plan. Tagged beams are shown in a
distinctive colour on the map display.

Glossary
G-1
U
UTC
An international designation for a global time system which is

known in English as Universal Time Co-ordinates. This is the
replacement for Greenwich Mean Time. The chief advantage of
UTC is that it is the same in all locations on the Earth. Local time
is a fixed number of hours offset from UTC.
User Request File
A HTML file containing the swath plan, plus the active region of
interest (ROI) at the time the swath was saved.

Glossary
G-1

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RADARSAT Swath Planner

April 1998 - Version 3.0r3

13800 Commerce Parkway, MacDonald Dettwiler Building,

PART 1 - INTRODUCING THE RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER

PART 2 - GETTING STARTED

Installing and Starting the Swath Planner.............................................................. 1-1

An Overview of the Swath Planner.......................................................................... 2-1

Understanding RADARSAT's Orbit & Beam Modes............................................... 3-1

An Overview of the Swath Planning Process......................................................... 4-1

PART 3 - ESSENTIAL OPERATIONS

Selecting System & Display Preferences................................................................ 5-1

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

Regions of Interest.................................................................................................... 7-1

Generating a Swath Acquisition Plan...................................................................... 8-1

Searching the RADARSAT Archive......................................................................... 9-1

PART 4 - PLANNING EXAMPLES

Planning Example 1: Single Image, Single Orbit................................................. 10-1

Planning Example 2: Multi Image, Single Orbit.................................................... 11-1

Planning Example 3: Multi Image, Multi Orbit (Single Cycle)............................. 12-1

Planning Example 4: Multi Image, Multi Cycle..................................................... 13-1

Using the Archive.................................................................................................... 14-1

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

PART 5 - ADVANCED OPERATIONS

Additional Swath Planner Functions.................................................................... 15-1

Using the Timeline Window.................................................................................... 16-1

Advanced Use of Region Files............................................................................... 17-1

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

Introducing the RADARSAT Swath Planner

Who Should Use the SPA

RADARSAT International (RSI) Support Services

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

What's New with SPA Version 3.0R3

Please contact us directly with your feedback, or use the

Swath Planner V3.1r1 Release Notes

Corrected region coverage error when 2 swaths start at same orbit.

Implemented swath fill function as follows:

Updated configuration file to 4.33

How to Use this Manual

Terminology from the RADARSAT Swath Planner including words or commands

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

PC with an 486 DX/66 MHz

The RADARSAT Swath Planner Installation CD

Installing the RADARSAT Swath Planner

Installing Win32s Extension for Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Click Continue to restart Windows with the Win32s extensions

Installing the RADARSAT Swath Planner

Installing the Geographic Overlays

Installing Tutorial Files

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

Installing Archive Catalogue Files

Obtaining Updated Configuration, Preference and DRF files

Obtaining Updated Archive files

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

Starting and Exiting the RADARSAT Swath Planner

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

Understanding the RADARSAT Swath Planner Window

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

Enables you to get on-line help for most SPA features.

Swath Planner File Type and Locations

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

RADARSAT SWATH PLANNER USER MANUAL - Revised: November 2002

RADARSAT Pass Directions