MDA’s CEO Mike Greeney posted on LinkedIn yesterday that this past Sunday, September 11, its RADARSAT-2 satellite had acquired its one millionth image, a major milestone for any Earth observation platform.
The first image, detailed below alongside the new image and taken in the same imaging mode, was taken by RADARSAT-2 of the Sermilik Fjord in East Greenland 14 years, 8 months, and 24 days ago.
In his post Greenley stated “when we acquired our first image in 2007, we demonstrated MDA’s world-leading SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology and outstanding image quality. That first, fully polarized image uniquely characterized the diverse environment and rugged coastline of that part of Greenland. It was a moment we celebrated both for its achievement and the anticipation of what was to come.”
“RADARSAT-2 is a highly sensitive system that is well suited for monitoring changes to our environment. If you look closely at the comparison between the first RADARSAT-2 image taken in December 2007 and the one-millionth image taken in September 2022 you might notice some glacial retreat has occurred in the decade and a half between the images. Images like this help provide insight into seasonal changes in Sea Ice and can be used for accurate measurement of changes to ice sheets.”
MDA is currently working on its next-general SAR CHORUS constellation consisting initially of pair of C- and X-band satellites.