The dual frequency X and Ku band SAR for the Earth Explorer mission

Earth Explorer is an ESA Program aimed to provide an important contribution for the understanding of the Earth System. Earth Explorer missions form the science and research element of ESA´s Living Planet Program and focus on the observation of atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and cryosphere. In this context, the CoReH2O mission was conceived in order to characterize snow cover spatial distribution and its relevant properties: snow depth, Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), sea ice and glacier features. Electromagnetic properties of the geophysical parameters of interest, and the need to retrieve them accurately on a wide geographical scale, envision the mission around a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) providing the key features of wide coverage, ldquoSimultaneous Dual Polarisation on Receiverdquo capability, ldquoSimultaneous Dual Bandrdquo (Ku - X) capability.