# SAR-C (Gaofen-3)
*sensor . products*

C-band synthetic aperture radar instrument carried by Gaofen-3, with 12 operating modes, single, dual and quad polarisation support, 1 m highest-resolution mode and up to 650 km addressable field of regard.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **manufacturer**: iecas
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"sar","measurement_principle":"active","frequency_band":"C","centre_frequency_mhz":5400,"polarisation_modes":["single","dual","quad"],"incidence_angle_range_deg":[10,60],"antenna_length_m":15,"swath_km":650,"modes":[{"name":"Spotlight","resolution_range_m":1,"swath_km":10},{"name":"Stripmap","swath_km":50},{"name":"ScanSAR","swath_km":650},{"name":"Wave"}],"notes":"WMO OSCAR records SAR-C (GF-3) as a C-band SAR with 12 operating modes, highest-resolution swath 10 km, field-of-regard 650 km, highest resolution 1 m, and utilization from 2016 to 2030."}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: community
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: iecas
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","product_status":"operational","deployment_context":"orbital","manufacturer":"iecas","description":"C-band synthetic aperture radar instrument carried by Gaofen-3, with 12 operating modes, single, dual and quad polarisation support, 1 m highest-resolution mode and up to 650 km addressable field of regard.","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"sar\",\"measurement_principle\":\"active\",\"frequency_band\":\"C\",\"centre_frequency_mhz\":5400,\"polarisation_modes\":[\"single\",\"dual\",\"quad\"],\"incidence_angle_range_deg\":[10,60],\"antenna_length_m\":15,\"swath_km\":650,\"modes\":[{\"name\":\"Spotlight\",\"resolution_range_m\":1,\"swath_km\":10},{\"name\":\"Stripmap\",\"swath_km\":50},{\"name\":\"ScanSAR\",\"swath_km\":650},{\"name\":\"Wave\"}],\"notes\":\"WMO OSCAR records SAR-C (GF-3) as a C-band SAR with 12 operating modes, highest-resolution swath 10 km, field-of-regard 650 km, highest resolution 1 m, and utilization from 2016 to 2030.\"}"}
- **technology**: radar

## Editorial
SAR-C (Gaofen-3) is the C-band synthetic aperture radar instrument on Gaofen-3, using active microwave imaging for orbital SAR collection.[^wmo-sarc-gf3][^radars-gf3-images] The instrument operates at 5.4 GHz and supports single, dual and quad-polarisation operation across incidence angles from 10 to 60 degrees.[^wmo-sarc-gf3][^radars-gf3-images] Its mode set includes 12 imaging modes, including high-resolution, Stripmap, ScanSAR and wave-mode operation.[^wmo-sarc-gf3][^radars-gf3-images] The sensor uses a 15 m antenna, reaches 1 m highest-resolution mode, covers 10 km swath in that mode and has up to 650 km field of regard for large-swath collection.[^wmo-sarc-gf3] SAR backscatter, InSAR surface deformation and polarimetric SAR decomposition are demonstrated through Gaofen-3.[^wmo-sarc-gf3][^radars-gf3-images] Utilization is recorded from 2016 to 2030 across Gaofen SAR-series flight units.[^wmo-sarc-gf3]

## Compositional position
- gaofen-3 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> SAR-C (Gaofen-3)

## Sources
- [wmo-sarc-gf3] | SAR-C (GF-3) instrument record, WMO OSCAR | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/sar_c_gf_3 | tier=third-party | accessed=2026-06-16
- [radars-gf3-images] | The Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Images of Gaofen-3 | https://radars.ac.cn/news/JournalNews/2fe7580e-5aaa-42b1-ae01-ecd800e0069f_en.htm | tier=peer-reviewed | accessed=2026-06-16

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/sar-c-gaofen-3
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)