Stripmap is an acquisition mode of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. It is the most simple, common acquisition mode of the SAR satellite sensors. In this mode, the antenna of the radar system is pointed in a fixed direction related to the flight direction. The displacement of the illuminated footprint corresponds to the displacement of the sensor along the orbit. This results in a continuous acquisition strip parallel to the flight direction. The ground coverage and resolution varies depending on the considered sensor and technical requirements. For X-band spaceborne sensors, a spatial resolution of 3 m can be achieved with a swath width in range direction of 30 km, e.g. for TerraSAR-X. In C-band, a spatial resolution up to 5 m is achieved e.g. by Sentinel-1 with a swath width of 80 km. For L-band spaceborne sensors, the spatial resolution achievable in stripmap mode varies between 3 and 10 m, with a swath width of 50-70 km, e.g. ALOS PALSAR2. Contrary to other acquisition modes, no antenna steering is needed in azimuth direction and the elevation beam is fixed in a specific range direction. This allows for an uninterrupted coverage along the flight direction. Stripmap data show high resolution with sufficient coverage for regional applications and can therefore be used for e.g. detailed land cover analysis at regional scale such as the mapping of urban footprints. Furthermore, it can be used for the mapping of small island or to support emergency actions.
Compare and discuss different SAR acquisition modes
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