Chinese Journal of Polar Research

Chinese Journal of Polar Research ›› 2026, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (3): 501-506.DOI: 10.13679/j.jdyj.20250008

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Analysis of a spaceborne sparse repeat-pass radar system for polar snow/ice detection

LI Daojing1, CUI Anjing1,2, WU Jiang1,2, GAO Jinghan1,2, WANG Yu1   

  1. 1National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
    Beijing 100190, China;
    2School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2025-02-19 Revised:2025-05-21 Online:2026-09-30 Published:2026-10-22

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Abstract:

For snow/ice detection in the Antarctic and the Arctic, this study developed a spaceborne sparse repeat-pass radar system, and analyzed its performance and feasibility. The parameters of the spaceborne radar system were designed under the condition of 75-dB decay attributable to ice thickness, and details of preliminary system are described. Considering the characteristics of the density of radar satellites in polar orbit and their short revisit time, a method for using spaceborne synthetic aperture radar sparse repeat-pass 3D imaging technology was developed to improve resolution in the cross-track direction, and preliminary results obtained by the polar snow/ice detection system based on a single satellite combined with orbital perturbation were analyzed. The system was found not only to have high resolution and good performance, but also to have certain technical feasibility. 


Key words: spaceborne radar, snow/ice detection, sparse repeat-pass flight, 3D imaging, polar remote sensing