SARAL

Also known as S

SARAL (Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa) is a cooperative altimetry technology mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). SARAL performs altimetric measurements designed to study ocean circulation and sea surface elevation.

Key facts

Spaceflight.name: SARAL
Spaceflight.names_list: Satellite with Argos and ALtiKa
Spaceflight.image: SARAL.jpg
Spaceflight.image_caption: An artist's rendering of SARAL satellite
Spaceflight.image_size: 300px
Spaceflight.mission_type: Earth observation
Spaceflight.operator: ISRO
Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID: 2013-009A
Spaceflight.SATCAT: 39086
Spaceflight.website: https://isro.gov.in/
Spaceflight.mission_duration: 5 years (planned) (in progress)
Spaceflight.spacecraft: SARAL

~6 min read

Article

11 sections

Contents

Mission
Instruments
ARGOS Advanced-Data Collection System (A-DCS)
Ka-band altimeter (ALtiKa)
DORIS
Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA)
Applications
Secondary payloads
Launch
References
External links

== Mission == A CNES / ISRO MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on the SARAL mission was signed on 23 February 2007. The SARAL mission is complementary to the Jason-2 mission of NASA / NOAA and CNES / EUMETSAT. It will fill the gap between Envisat and the Sentinel-3 mission of the European Copernicus Programme (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security - GMES programme). The combination of two altimetry missions in orbit has a considerable impact on the reconstruction of sea surface height (SSH), reducing the mean mapping error by a factor of 4.