RADARSAT-1 was equipped with a powerful SAR sensor. It transmitted and received signals to capture high-quality images of the Earth night and day and in all weather conditions. RADARSAT-1 transmitted a microwave energy pulse (C-band at 5.3 GHz frequency) to Earth, and the SAR measured the amount of energy reflected back to the satellite from the Earth’s surface.
The RADARSAT-1 instrument was able to shape and steer its radar beam using C-band. A wide variety of beam widths were available to capture swaths of 45 to 500 kilometers, with a range of 8 to 100 meters in resolution and incidence angles of 10 to 60 degrees.