Principles Of Synthetic Aperture Radar

Abstract

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an active microwave imaging method. It operates independently of Sun illumination and cloud coverage. Current spaceborne systems use wavelengths of 3 to 25 cm and achieve resolutions of 10 to 50 m. The paper attempts to explain the basic SAR imaging principles using a minimum of mathematics. Emphasis is put on the particular properties of SAR images that should be understood before interpreting these data.