Effects of precipitation on images collected using different operational modes of Cosmo Sky Med

The 4-satellite constellation Cosmo Sky Med of the Italian Space Agency is providing high quality observations suitable for many applications in 'all weather' conditions. However, Cosmo Sky Med SARs use a frequency at X-band (9.6 GHz) for which attenuation due propagation through precipitation is not negligible and can affect several SAR applications. In some conditions, especially heavy thunderstorms, precipitation effects can be significant, masking features of interest of the observed surface. During the two years of operation of Cosmo Sky Med, several images collected in stripmap, pingpong and scansar mode, both over sea and terrain and sea are analyzed and discussed by using simultaneous measurements collected by operational and research weather radar. © 2012 IEEE.