Sentinel-1C observation scenario
Sentinel-1C was launched aboard a Vega-C rocket on Dec 5 by ESA. The products generated after May 19, 2025 have been certified as calibrated. Sentinel-1 mission has historically published its baseline observation scenario. In this post, we take a look at new Sentinel-1 footprints that have been acquired for the first time in the history of the mission, since the launch of Sentinel-1C to better understand the current observation scenario.
We use all the Sentinel-1C SLCs available at the Alaska Satellite Facility archive at the time of writing this post for this analysis. Note that we focus on previously unimaged footprints here. This could suggest that these regions are now imaged on both ascending or descending passes, or have been switched to image with the complementary geometry in the new observation plan. Our burst indexing system lets us track these changes in detail.
Alaska¤
Alaska is now being imaged on more ascending passes, improving the temporal sampling at these latitudes.
Canada¤
Eastern Canada is now being imaged on more ascending passes as well.
Russia¤
More regions near the Russian border to Europe and Kazakhstan are now imaged on both ascending and descending passes.
Congo¤
Data gaps over DRC in previous observation scenarios have now been plugged.
Others¤
A number of other areas have also seen improved coverage. Specifically, certain tracks have been extended to image more offshore regions and islands in the IW mode. Coverage around the edges of the Sahara desert has also improved.