China hi-res SAR imaging satellite sends back pictures

China on Thursday published the first pictures transmitted back to earth from Gaofen-3, the country's first C-band high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite with a resolution of one meter.

The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) published images of the Beijing Capital International Airport, Xiamen city of Fujian Province, the northern port of Tianjin, China's fourth-largest freshwater lake Hongze and the Yellow Sea, which were taken by the satellite.

These images were captured using different imaging modes and all appear to be clear, according to the SASTIND.

The Gaofen-3 satellite was launched on Aug. 10 and started to take pictures and send them back from Aug. 15.

The data was received by ground stations and processed by the China Center For Resources Satellite Data and Application.

As of Wednesday, Gaofen-3 has obtained and processed as much as 2.15TB of data.

SASTIND said that tests on ground-based systems will be finished by December and then application tests will begin.

Major users of the satellite's application services include the State Oceanic Administration, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Water Resources and China Meteorological Administration.

Gaofen-3 has all-weather, 24-hour earth observation capability, and will provide China with new technologies for ocean environment monitoring, maritime rights protection, disaster monitoring and evaluation, meteorological research, monitoring of water conservation facilities, and water resource management, according to SASTIND. Endi