The European Space Agency Tender

Spaceborne Radar Sounders Have The Unique Capability To Characterize And Monitor Subsurface Layering And Structure At Global Scale With High Revisit Times. For Earth Observation Especially Subsurface Probing Of Ice Sheets Over The Polar Regions Is Of High Interest. However, While Several Airborne Radar Sounders And Spaceborne Radar Sounders For Other Planetary Bodies Exist, A Spaceborne Radarsounder For Earth Observation Has Not Yet Been Developed. One Major Reason For This Is The Impact Of The Ionosphere. To Achieve High Penetration Depths, Radar Signals At Vhf (very High Frequency) Band Have To Be Transmitted. But At Vhf Band Signals Are Highly Sensitive To The State Of The Ionosphere Which Can Induce Strong Perturbations, Or Even A Full Blockage Of The Signal.in A Previous Esa Activity An Ionosphere Modular Software Package (imsp) Was Developed. This Framework Allows For A Consistent Simulation Of The Ionosphere For Low Frequency Sar Missions In A Generic Way. The Objective Of This Activity Is To Expand The Existing Tool To Assess Theimpact Of The Ionosphere On Spaceborne Radar Sounder Missions. The Aim Is To Analyse In A Systematic Way The Impact Of The Ionosphere On The Performance Parameters And Simulated Data (from Existing Instruments) Of Potential Spaceborne Radar Sounder Missions For Earth Observation At Vhf Band And To Develop Potential Mitigation Techniques.