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Introduction to
RADAR
Remote Sensing
Natural Resources Ressources naturelles

CanadaCanada
Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada
Canada
Course Outline
• Why use RADAR for Remote Sensing?
• Fundamentals of RADAR
– SAR
– Resolution and incident angle
– Frequency and Polarization
• Image Characteristics
– Topographic Displacement
– Speckle
• Scattering Mechanisms
• Introduction to Sensors
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada
Why Use Radar for Remote Sensing?
• Controllable source of illumination
– sees through cloud and rain, and at night
• Images can be high resolution (3 - 10 m)
• Different features are portrayed or discriminated
compared to visible sensors
• Some surface features can be seen better in
radar images:
– ice, ocean waves
– soil moisture, vegetation mass
– man-made objects, e.g. buildings
– geological structures
RADAR
Radar is an acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging.

A Radar system has three primary functions:
- It transmits microwave (radio) signals towards a scene
- It receives the portion of the transmitted energy
backscattered from the scene
- It observes the strength (detection) and the time delay
(ranging) of the return signals.
Radar provides its own energy source and, therefore, can

operate both day or night and through cloud cover. This
type of system is known as an active remote sensing
system.

RADAR - Radio Detection And Ranging
Ra
ng
e
Pul
se
Echo

The Electromagnetic Spectrum
All electromagnetic waves propogate at the speed of light.
X-rays, visible light, and radio waves are some examples.
Such waves are described by variations in their electric
and magnetic fields.
Electromagnetic waves are characterized by polarization,

and by frequency or wavelength (inversely proportional to
frequency).
Radar remote sensing uses the microwave portion of the

electromagnetic spectrum, from a frequency of 0.3 GHz to
300 GHz, or in wavelength terms, from 1 m to 1 mm.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

What is Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)?
• A side-looking radar system which makes a high-resolution image of the Earth’s
surface (for remote sensing applications)
• As an imaging side-looking radar moves along its path, it accumulates data. In this
way, continuous strips of the ground surface are “illuminated” parallel and to one
side of the flight direction. From this record of signal data, processing is needed to
produce radar images.
• The across-track dimension is referred to as “range”. Near range edge is closest to

nadir (the points directly below the radar) and far range edge is farthest from the
radar.
• The along-track dimension is referred to as “azimuth”.
• In a radar system, resolution is defined for both the range and azimuth directions.
• Digital signal processing is used to focus the image and obtain a higher resolution
than achieved by conventional radar

Concept of Synthetic Aperture
Synthetic Aperture
Last time SAR
Senses object
Flight
Distance SAR travelled while object
Path
was in view = synthetic aperture
First time SAR

senses object
Ground
Track
Nadir
Swath
Object

Resolution
Since SAR is an active system, the actual sensor resolution has two dimensions:
range resolution and azimuth resolution. Resolution of a SAR sensor should not
be confused with pixel spacing which results from sampling done by the SAR
image processor.
Range
Range resolution of a SAR is determined by built-in radar and processor
constraints which act in the slant range domain. Range resolution is dependent
on the length of the processed pulse; shorter pulses result in “higher” resolution.
Radar data are created in the slant range domain, but usually are projected onto
the ground range plane when processed into an image.
Azimuth
For a real aperture radar, azimuth resolution is determined by the angular beam
width of the terrain strip illuminated by the radar beam. For two objects to be
resolved, they must be separated in the azimuth direction by a distance greater
than the beam width on the ground. SAR gets its name from the azimuth
processing and can achieve an azimuth resolution which may be hundreds of
times smaller than the transmitted antenna beam width.

Azimuth Resolution
A simple (i.e. real-aperture) radar has an azimuth

resolution given by the azimuth beam width
A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) uses signal

processing to refine the azimuth resolution to shorter
than the antenna length
original
azimuth
Processed azimuth beamwidth
resolution

Resolution Cell
Source: Raney, 1998
rR = range resolution rA = azimuth resolution

Incident Angle
Refers to the angle between the radar illumination and the normal to
the ground surface. Depending on the height of the radar above the
Earth’s surface, the incident angle will change from the near range to
the far range which in turn affects the viewing geometry.
Local Incident Angle
The term local incident angle takes into account the local slope of the
terrain at any location within the image.
It is the local incident angle which in part determines the image

brightness or tone for each pixel.

Microwaves
Most remote sensing radars operate at wavelengths between .5 cm to 75 cm. The
microwave frequencies have been arbitrarily assigned to bands identified by letter. The
most popular of these bands for use by imaging radars include:
X-band: from 2.4 to 3.75 cm (12.5 to 8 GHz). Widely used for military reconnaissance
and commercially for terrain surveys. Used on CV-580 SAR (Environment Canada).
C-band: from 3.75 to 7.5 cm (8 to 4 GHz). Used in many spaceborne SARs, such as
ERS-1 and RADARSAT.
S-band: from 7.5 to 15 cm (4 to 2 GHz). Used in Almaz.
L-band: from 15 to 30 cm (2 to 1 GHz). Used on SEASAT and JERS-1.
P-band: from 30 to 100 cm (1 to 0.3 GHz). Used on NASA/JPL AIRSAR.
The capability to penetrate through precipitation or into a surface layer is increased with
longer wavelengths. Radars operating at wavelengths greater than 2 cm are not
significantly affected by cloud cover, however, rain does become a factor at wavelengths
shorter than 4 cm.
Relative Size of Microwave Wavelengths

Choice of Radar Frequency 1
• Application factors:
– Radar wavelength should be matched to the size of the
surface features that we wish to discriminate
– e.g. Ice discrimination, small features, use X-band
– e.g. Geology mapping, large features, use L-band
– e.g. Foliage penetration, better at low frequencies,
use P-band
In general, C-band is a good compromise

Frequency Comparison: C-, L-, and P-Bands
FREQUENCY COMPARISON
Flevoland, Netherlands Agricultural Scene
C-Band
Multipolarization
colour composites
courtesy of JPL
L-Band P-Band

Choice of Radar Frequency 2
• System factors:
– Low frequencies:
More difficult processing
Need larger antennas and feeds
Simpler electronics
– High frequencies:
Need more power
More difficult electronics
Good component availability at X-band
• Note that many research SARs have multiple
frequency bands
– e.g. JPL AIRSAR, SIR-C, Convair-580
Polarization
Polarization refers to the orientation of the electric vector of an electromagnetic
wave.
Radar system antennas can be configured to transmit and receive either

horizontally or vertically polarized electromagnetic radiation.
When polarization of the transmitted and received waves is in the same direction, it
is referred to as like-polarized. HH refers to horizontally transmitted and received
waves; VV refers to vertically transmitted and received waves.
When polarization of the transmitted waves is orthogonal to the polarization of the

received radiation, it is referred to as cross-polarized; e.g. HV refers to horizontal
transmission and vertical reception; VH for vertical transmission and horizontal
reception.
When the radar wave interacts with a surface and is scattered from it, the
polarization can be modified, depending upon the properties of the surface. This
modification affects the way the scene appears in polarimetric radar imagery, and
the type of surface can often be deduced from the image.

EM Wave Polarization
Electrical Field
VERTICAL POLARIZATION
HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION

Choice of Polarization
• Basic or operational SARs usually have only one

polarization for economy, e.g. HH or VV
• Research systems tend to have multiple polarizations,
e.g. all of: HH, HV, VV, VH (quad pol)
• Multiple polarizations help to distinguish the physical
structure of the scattering surfaces:
– the alignment with respect to the radar (HH vs. VV)
– the randomness of scattering (e.g. vegetation - HV)
– the corner structures (e.g. HH VV phase angle)
– Bragg scattering (e.g. oceans - VV)

Weddell Sea Ice, Antarctica
Shuttle SIR-C/X Image
C-band, HH L-band, HV L-band, HH

Victoria & Saanich Peninsula, Canada
Urban
Suburban
Forest
Agriculture /
Clear-cut
Shuttle SIR-C/X Image
C-band, HH L-band, HV L-band, HH

Benefits of Polarimetry
• the scattering matrix, Stokes matrix and polarization
signature can be computed for each pixel
– can be a powerful classification tool
– for both visual and machine classification
• the scattering matrix can be used
– to synthesize the return with any transmit/receive

polarizations
– to investigate the scattering properties of different
surfaces
– to optimize polarization for optimum detectability
Benefits of Multipolarimetric Imagery

Relief Displacement
Since imaging radars usually view the scene from an

oblique perspective (i.e. Side-looking), they are
subject to one-dimensional relief displacement
analogous to that inherent in aerial photography.
Tall objects are displaced radially from nadir in air

photos, whereas terrain distortion in radar imagery is
perpendicular to the flight path (or satellite track)
which results in tall objects being displaced toward
the sensor.

Topographic Displacement - Optical Sensor
Optical Sensor
by similar triangles
d=h
D H
h
D= *D
H
θ
d = h tan θ
nadir
reference surface
Topographic displacements Optical Sensor
d = Horizontal displacement of a 100m mountain top

(m)

Topographic Displacement - Radar Sensor
apparent
viewing
θ direction
mountain top
reference surface orthographic

projection of
mountaintop
radar ground range
projection of mountaintop
Horizontal displacement of a 100m mountain top
(m)
airborne
θ
satellite
Source: T. Toutin, 1992, ROS and SEASAT Image Geometric Correction IEEE-IGARS, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 603-609.

Radar Shadow
Radar shadows in imagery indicate those areas on the ground surface
not illuminated by the radar. Since no return signal is received, radar
shadows appear very dark in tone on the imagery.
In imagery, radar shadows occur in the down-range direction behind tall

objects. They are a good indicator of radar illumination direction if
annotation is missing or incomplete.
Since incident angle increases from near to far-range, terrain illumination

becomes more oblique. As a result, shadowing becomes more prominent
toward far-range.
Information about the scene, such as an object’s height, can also be

obtained from radar shadows. Shadowing in radar imagery is an
important key for terrain relief interpretation.

Radar Shadow
illum
inat
ion
t
ron
vef
wa
scene
distorsion shadow
Source: Raney, 1998

Foreshortening
Foreshortening in a radar image is the appearance of compression of those
features in the scene which are tilted toward the radar.
Foreshortening leads to relatively brighter appearance of these slopes, and must

be accounted for by the interpreter.
Foreshortening is at a maximum when a steep slope is orthogonal to the radar

beam. In this case, the local incident angle is zero, and as a result, the base,
slope and top of a hill are imaged simultaneously and, therefore, occupy the
same position in the image.
For a given slope or hillside, foreshortening effects are reduced with increasing
incident angles. At the grazing angle, where incident angles approach 90°,
foreshortening effects are eliminated, but severe shadowing may occur. In
selecting incident angle, there is always a trade-off between the occurrence of
foreshortening and the occurrence of shadowing in the image.

Foreshortening
o nt
r
ill
ef
u
v
m
a
w
in
at
io
n
scene
displacement
foreshortening
Source: Raney, 1998

Layover
Layover occurs when the reflected energy from the upper

portion of a feature is received before the return from the
lower portion of the feature. In this case, the top of the
feature will be displaced, or “laid over” relative to its base
when it is processed into an image.
In general, layover is more prevalent for viewing

geometries with small incident angles, such as from
satellites.

Layover
llum
ina
tion
i
r ont
avef
w
scene
distortion
layover
Source: Raney, 1998

Relief Displacement (Radar Sensor)
The type and degree of relief displacement in the radar image

is a function of the angle at which the radar beam hits the
ground, i.e. it depends upon the local slope of the ground.
Layover Foreshortening Shadow
0° 90º
Local incident angle

Fading and Speckle
Fading and speckle are the inherent “noise-like” processes which degrade image quality
in a coherent imaging system.
Fading is due to variation in the echo phase delay caused by multiple targets in a
resolution cell with range variations differing by less than a wavelength.
Local constructive and destructive interference appears in the image as bright and dark
speckles, respectively.
Using independent data sets to estimate the same ground patch, by average
independent samples, can effectively reduce the effects of fading and speckle. This can
be done by:
• Multiple-look filtering, separates the maximum synthetic aperture into smaller sub-
apertures generating independent looks at target areas based on the angular
position of the targets. Therefore, looks are different Doppler frequency bands.
• Averaging (incoherently) adjacent pixels.
Reducing these effects enhances radiometric resolution at the expense of spatial

resolution.

Speckle
Constructive Interference
Result
Coherent Destructive Interference

radar waves
Result
Example of Homogenous Target
Constructive interference
Varying degrees of interference

(between constructive and destructive )
Destructive interference

Speckle
Corn Field Forest

Spatially Uniform Target Spatially Non-Uniform Target
Fine Texture Coarse Texture
300 m 300 m

Diffuse and Specular Reflectance
Surface roughness influences the reflectivity of microwave

energy and thus the brightness of features on the radar
imagery.
Horizontal smooth surfaces reflect nearly all incident energy

away from the radar and are called specular (from the Latin
word speculum, meaning mirror). Specular surfaces, such as
calm water or paved highways, appear dark on radar imagery.
Microwaves incident upon a rough surface are scattered in

many directions. This is known as diffuse or distributed
reflectance. Vegetation surfaces will cause diffuse reflectance,
and result in a brighter tone on the radar imagery.

Diffuse and Specular Reflectance
Corner Reflector
Diffuse Reflection Specular Reflection

Scatter 1
In general, scenes observed by a SAR consist of two

kinds of reflecting surfaces; distributed scatterers and
discrete scatterers.
Discrete scatterers are characterized by a relatively

simple geometric shape, such as a building. The classic
element used to represent discrete scattering is a corner
reflector, a shape as is formed when all sides intersect at
(nearly) right angles (such as the intersection of a paved
road and tall building).

Scatter 2
Distributed scatterers consist of multiple small areas
or surfaces from which the incident microwaves
scatter in many different directions. Distributed
scattering is produced from a forest canopy or
cultivated fields.
A radar measures that component of the scattered

energy which returns along the same path of the
incident beam.

Surface Roughness
Surface roughness of a scattering surface is
determined relative to radar wavelength and incident
angle.
Generally, a surface is considered smooth if its height
variations are considerably smaller than the radar
wavelength. In terms of a single wavelength, a given
surface appears rougher as incident angle increases.
Rough surfaces will usually appear brighter on radar
imagery than smoother surfaces composed of the same
material. In general a rough surface is defined as
having a height variation of about half the radar
wavelength.
Surface Roughness
Surface Scattering Patterns
Incident Wave Scattering Pattern
Smooth
Incident Wave Incident Wave
Scattering Pattern
Scattering Pattern
Medium Rough Very Rough

Corner Reflectors
Small objects may appear extremely bright on radar imagery. This is
dependent on the geometric configuration of the object.
The side of a building or a bridge, combined with reflection from the ground is
an example of a corner reflector.
When two surfaces are at right angles and open to the radar, a dihedral
corner reflector is formed. The return from a dihedral corner reflector is strong
only when the reflecting surfaces are very nearly perpendicular to the
illumination direction.
Strong reflections are caused by a trihedral corner reflector. These are formed
by the intersection of three mutually perpendicular plane surfaces open to the
radar.
Researchers often place corner reflectors at various ground locations to act

as reference points on the radar imagery.

Corner Reflectors
Dihedral Trihedral
Volume Scattering
Volume scattering is related to multiple scattering
processes within a medium, such as the vegetation
canopy of a corn field or a forest. This type of scattering
can also occur in layers of very dry soil, sand, or ice.
Volume scattering is important as it influences the

backscatter observed by the radar. Radar will receive
backscatter from both the surface and the volume.
The intensity of volume scattering depends on the

physical properties of the volume (variations in dielectric
constant, in particular) and the characteristics of the radar
(wavelength, polarization and incident angle).

Reflections
Canopy
Backscattering Soil - Trunk
Reflection
Soil
Backscattering (Corner Reflector)
Canopy Soil Reflection

Moisture Content
The presence of moisture increases a material’s complex dielectric constant.
The dielectric constant influences the ability of a material to absorb, reflect and
transmit microwave energy.
The moisture content of a material can change its electrical properties. This
affects how a material appears on the radar image. Identical materials can vary
in appearance at different times or different locations according to the amount
of moisture they contain.
The reflectivity, and hence image brightness, of most natural vegetation and
surfaces is increased with increasing moisture content.
Microwaves may penetrate very dry materials, such as desert sand. The
scattering which results, is affected by both surface and subsurface properties.
In general, the longer the radar wavelength, the deeper into the material the
energy will penetrate.

Comparison of Satellite SARs & Aircraft SARs
• Advantages of satellite SARs
2
– More coverage per second (Km /s)
2
– Lower operating costs ($/Km )
– Not constrained by flying conditions or airport proximity
– Wider area views
– Somewhat simpler signal processing (no motion
compensation)
• Disadvantages
– More expensive to design, build and launch
– More difficult to provide multiple polarizations &
frequencies
– Cannot be flown anywhere on demand
– Lower resolution in general

Comparison of Imaging Geometries
SPACEBORNE SAR
AIRBORNE SAR
airborne 10 – 100 km
spaceborne 25 – >500 km
IMAGE SWATH

Choice of Swath Width
• Limited by range ambiguities and data handling
capacity
• A trade-off between azimuth resolution, number of
looks, processing capability
• For satellites: 30 - 150 Km typical
• For aircraft: 10 - 100 Km typical
• RADARSAT gets large swath widths per beam by
reducing the resolution, and using careful antenna
weighting to control range ambiguities
• RADARSAT and the future Envisat use ScanSAR to
get extra wide swaths

RADARSAT-1

RADARSAT-1 SAR Imaging Modes
Extended Low
Satellite
Ground Track
ScanSAR Extended High

Wide
Standard
Fine

Introduction to Radar Remote Sensing Notes Page 1 of 1
Introduction To Radar Remote Sensing
Notes
Slide 35
This slide illustrates that shadow, foreshortening and layover are progressive forms of the same
phenomenon — namely range-direction geometric distortion caused by the radar viewing geometry
and the fact that the radar is basically a distance-measuring device ( a camera is an angle-
measuring device).
You can also think of radar shadow and layover as extreme or terminal cases of foreshortening.
Slide 38
Speckle is the randomness of the observed reflectivity caused by the interference of multiple
scatterers within a resolution cell, when the distance to the scattering centres of the reflectors is
random. In general, only a pixel with a strong corner reflector does not exhibit speckle.
Pure speckle is observed in a radar image when the signal/noise ratio is high, and the true
reflectivity of the ground is uniform.
However, speckle is usually accompanied in the radar image by other sources of noise and
radiometric variation. These include random receiver noise, and true changes in the radar
reflectivity across the scene.
The observed texture of the scene is a combination of the above factors. In general, scenes of
areas with uniform reflectivity will exhibit fine texture, owing to the predominance of speckle.
Scenes with varying reflectivity will exhibit coarser texture, as affected by the spatial distribution of
surface reflectivity.

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Introduction to

Natural Resources Ressources naturelles

Radar is an acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging.

Radar provides its own energy source and, therefore, can

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Electromagnetic waves are characterized by polarization,

Radar remote sensing uses the microwave portion of the

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

• The across-track dimension is referred to as “range”. Near range edge is closest to

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

First time SAR

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

A simple (i.e. real-aperture) radar has an azimuth

A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) uses signal

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Source: Raney, 1998

rR = range resolution rA = azimuth resolution

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Local Incident Angle

It is the local incident angle which in part determines the image

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

S-band: from 7.5 to 15 cm (4 to 2 GHz). Used in Almaz.

L-band: from 15 to 30 cm (2 to 1 GHz). Used on SEASAT and JERS-1.

P-band: from 30 to 100 cm (1 to 0.3 GHz). Used on NASA/JPL AIRSAR.

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Radar system antennas can be configured to transmit and receive either

When polarization of the transmitted waves is orthogonal to the polarization of the

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

• Basic or operational SARs usually have only one

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Shuttle SIR-C/X Image

C-band, HH L-band, HV L-band, HH

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Shuttle SIR-C/X Image

C-band, HH L-band, HV L-band, HH

• the scattering matrix can be used

– to synthesize the return with any transmit/receive

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Since imaging radars usually view the scene from an

Tall objects are displaced radially from nadir in air

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Topographic displacements Optical Sensor

d = Horizontal displacement of a 100m mountain top

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

reference surface orthographic

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

In imagery, radar shadows occur in the down-range direction behind tall

Since incident angle increases from near to far-range, terrain illumination

Information about the scene, such as an object’s height, can also be

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Source: Raney, 1998

Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada

Foreshortening leads to relatively brighter appearance of these slopes, and must