The Tandem-L Mission for Monitoring of Earth's Dynamics: Main Performance Results during Phase-B1

Abstract:
Tandem-L is a German proposal for an innovative interferometric radar mission to systematically monitor the Earth and its intricate dynamics with unprecedented quality and resolution. Several are the mission objectives, among which the global inventories of forest height and above-ground biomass, large scale measurements of Earth surface deformations due to plate tectonics, erosion and anthropogenic activities, observations of glacier movements and 3-D structure changes in land and sea ice, and the monitoring of ocean surface currents are all of great importance. In this paper we show the expected performance that the Tandem-L mission will achieve for three of its main applications: (i) measurement of global deformation rate, (ii) forest height and vertical structure and (iii) topographic map. The unique products and performance achievable by Tandem-L open a new era for different strategic applications and services in the geosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and lithosphere of the Earth system.