# Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)
*component . products*

Primary wide-swath radar interferometer on SWOT, measuring water-surface elevation across two Ka-band swaths.

## Specifications
- **manufacturer**: nasa-jpl
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **entity type**: component
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: nasa-jpl
- **attributes**: {"kind":"component","manufacturer":"nasa-jpl","deployment_context":"orbital","description":"Primary wide-swath radar interferometer on SWOT, measuring water-surface elevation across two Ka-band swaths."}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
KaRIn is the Ka-band Radar Interferometer and primary wide-swath radar payload on SWOT.[^nasa-swot-flight-systems][^aviso-karin] It is a near-nadir Ka-band radar-interferometer and swath altimeter using two SAR antennae at opposite ends of a 10 m boom.[^aviso-karin] Its center frequency is 35.75 GHz.[^aviso-karin] The instrument measures ocean and surface-water levels across a 120 km geometry, described as two 60 km swaths on either side of nadir, from 10 to 70 km cross-track, with a nadir gap.[^nasa-swot-flight-systems][^podaac-swot][^aviso-karin] KaRIn operates in a low-resolution ocean mode with onboard processing and a high-resolution mode over broad, primarily continental hydrology regions.[^nasa-swot-flight-systems] Its measurements feed SWOT KaRIn L2 low-rate sea-surface-height products and high-rate water-mask pixel-cloud products.[^podaac-swot] Radar altimetry is demonstrated on SWOT, which launched on 2022-12-16, and KaRIn data collections run from 2022-12-16 to present.[^nasa-swot-flight-systems][^podaac-swot]

## Compositional position
- swot (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)

## Sources
- [nasa-swot-flight-systems] | SWOT flight systems, NASA/JPL | https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flight-systems/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [podaac-swot] | Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), PO.DAAC / JPL / NASA | https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/SWOT | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [aviso-karin] | KaRIn: Ka-band Radar Interferometer, AVISO+ | https://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/missions/current-missions/swot/instruments/karin-wide-swath-altimeter-in-ka-band.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/component/karin
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