1

Data Acquisition Systems of Remote Sensing

Microwave Remote Sensing I
Assoc.Prof. Dr. Filiz BEKTAŞ BALÇIK
Prof. Dr. Elif SERTEL
bektasfi@itu.edu.tr
Room:310
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Content
•  This lecture will focus on the theory and physics of
microwave remote sensing for earth observation.

v What is microwave remote sensing?

v Types of microwave remote sensing
v Passive microwave remote sensing
v Active microwave remote sensing
Electromagnetic Radiation
•  Electromagnetic radiation consists of an
electrical field(E) which varies in magnitude in a
direction perpendicular to the direction in which
the radiation is traveling, and a magnetic field
(M) oriented at right angles to the electrical
field. Both these fields travel at the speed of light
(c).
Wavelength and Frequency
•  The wavelength is the length of one wave cycle,
which can be measured as the distance between
successive wave crests. Wavelength is usually
represented by the Greek letter lambda (λ).
Wavelength and frequency are related by the
following formula:
Sensors
•  Optical
•  Visible (Reflectance)
•  Near Infrared (Reflectance)
•  Thermal (Thermal Radiation)
•  Microwave
•  Passive (Scatterometer) (Microwave
Radiation)
•  Active (SAR) (Backscattering)
•  Laser
•  Active (Intensity, Time)
Sensors
•  Passive Sensors: measure energy that is
naturally available (e.g. Optical sensors)
•  Active Sensors: provide their own energy
source for illumination (e.g. Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR), Laser Scanner (LIDAR) )
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Passive Remote Sensing

•  P a s s i v e r e m o t e s e n s i n g s y s t e m s r e c o r d
electromagnetic energy that was reflected (e.g., blue,
green, red, and near-infrared light) or emitted (e.g.,
thermal infrared energy) from the surface of the Earth.
Passive Remote Sensing

• The sun provides a very convenient source of energy

for remote sensing.
• The sun's energy is reflected for visible wavelengths,
or absorbed and then re-emitted for thermal IR
wavelengths
• For all reflected energy, this can only take place
during the time when the sun is illuminating the Earth
• Energy that is naturally emitted (such as thermal
infrared) can be detected day or night, as long as the
amount of energy is large enough to be recorded.
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Active Remote Sensing

•  There are also active remote sensing systems that are not
dependent on the Sun’s electromagnetic energy or the
thermal properties of the Earth.
•  Active remote sensing systems create their own
electromagnetic energy that
1)  is transmitted from the sensor toward the terrain (and
is largely unaffected by the atmosphere),
2)  interacts with the terrain producing a backscatter of
energy, and
3)  is recorded by the remote sensor’s receiver.
Active Remote Sensing
•  An active sensor emits radiation which is directed
toward the target to be investigated. The radiation
reflected from that target is detected and measured by
the sensor.
• Advantages for active sensors:
– the ability to obtain measurements anytime, regardless of
the time of day, season or (weather),
– examine wavelengths that are not sufficiently provided by
the sun (e.g., microwaves),
– to better control the way that a target is illuminated.
• However, active systems require the generation of a fairly
large amount of energy to adequately illuminate targets.
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Microwave Remote Sensing

•  Microwave sensing includes both active
and passive remote sensing.
•  The microwave portion of the
spectrum covers the range from
approximately 1mm to 1m in wavelength
(Long wavelengths).
•  L o n g e r w a v e l e n g t h m i c r o w a v e
radiation can penetrate through
cloud cover, haze, dust, and all but
the heaviest rainfall as the longer
wavelengths are not susceptible to
atmospheric scattering which affects
shorter optical wavelengths.
•  Because of this property data can be
collected at any time under almost all
weather and environmental conditions.
Electromagnetic Spectrum (Microwave
Portion)
•  The portion of the spectrum of more recent
interest to remote sensing is the microwave
region from about 1 mm to 1 m.
•  This covers the longest wavelengths used for
remote sensing.
•  The shorter wavelengths have properties similar
to the thermal infrared region while the longer
wavelengths approach the wavelengths used for
radio broadcasts.
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Electromagnetic Spectrum
The microwave portion of the spectrum covers the range from
approximately 1cm to 1m in wavelength.
 14

Microwave Remote Sensing

•  Passive Remote Sensing

•  Active Remote Sensing

 15

Passive Microwave RS
Passive microwave sensing is similar in
concept to thermal remote sensing.
All objects emit microwave energy of some
magnitude, but the amounts are generally very
small.
A passive microwave sensor detects the
naturally emitted microwave energy within its
field of view. (It’s almost like you are ‘looking’ or
‘watching’ without the use of your own
illumination – like a rattlesnake uses thermal
imaging to detect rats).
This emitted energy is related to the
temperature and moisture properties of the
emitting object or surface.

Objects Detecting Without Temperature

Emitting Emitting illumination & moisture
 16

Passive Microwave RS
•  Passive microwave sensors are typically radiometers or scanners
and an antenna is used to detect and record the microwave
energy.
The microwave energy recorded by a
passive sensor can be

1)  emitted by the atmosphere,

2)  reflected from the surface,
3)  emitted from the surface,
4)  transmitted from the subsurface.

Because the wavelengths are so long, the

energy available is quite small compared to
Long wavelengths optical wavelengths. Thus, the fields of view
Large field of view must be large to detect enough energy to
Low spatial resolution record a signal. Most passive microwave
sensors are therefore characterized by low
spatial resolution.
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Passive Mirowave RS
•  Applications of passive microwave remote sensing include
meteorology, hydrology, and oceanography.
•  By looking "at", or "through" the atmosphere, depending on the
wavelength, meteorologists can use passive microwaves to
measure atmospheric profiles and to determine water and
ozone content in the atmosphere.
•  Hydrologists use passive microwaves to measure soil moisture
since microwave emission is influenced by moisture
content.
•  Oceanographic applications include mapping sea ice, currents,
and surface winds as well as detection of pollutants, such
as oil slicks.

meteorology,
hydrology,
oceanography.
 18

Active Microwave RS
•  Active microwave sensors provide their own source
of microwave radiation to illuminate the target.
•  Active microwave sensors are generally divided into
two distinct categories: imaging and non-imaging.
•  The most common form of imaging active
microwave sensors is RADAR. RADAR is an
acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging,
which essentially characterizes the function and
operation of a radar sensor.
•  The sensor transmits a microwave (radio) signal
towards the target and detects the backscattered
portion of the signal.
•  The strength of the backscattered signal is measured to
discriminate between different targets and the time
delay between the transmitted and reflected signals
determines the distance (or range) to the target.
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Active Microwave RS
§  Non-imaging microwave sensors include altimeters and scatterometers.
§  Radar altimeters
§  transmit short microwave pulses and measure the round trip time delay to
targets to determine their distance from the sensor.
§  Generally altimeters look straight down at nadir below the platform and
thus measure height or elevation (if the altitude of the platform is
accurately known).
§  It is used on aircraft for altitude determination and on aircraft and
satellites for topographic mapping and sea surface height estimation.
§  Scatterometers
§  are used to make precise quantitative measurements of the amount of
energy backscattered from targets. The amount of energy backscattered is
dependent on the surface properties (roughness) and the angle at which
the microwave energy strikes the target.
§  Scatterometry measurements over ocean surfaces can be used to estimate
wind speeds based on the sea surface roughness. Ground-based
scatterometers are used extensively to accurately measure the backscatter
from various targets to characterize different materials and surface types.
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Active Microwave Remote Sensing

§  The most widely used active remote sensing systems
include:
§  active microwave (RADAR), which transmission of long-
wavelength microwaves (e.g., 3 – 25 cm) through the
atmosphere and then recording the amount of energy
back-scattered from the terrain;
§  (LIDAR), which is based on the transmission of relatively
short-wavelength laser light (e.g., 0.90 µm) and then
recording the amount of light back-scattered from the
terrain; and
§  SONAR, which is based on the transmission of sound
waves through a water column and then recording the
amount of energy back-scattered from the bottom or from
objects within the water column.
 21

RADAR Basic Principle

RAdio Detection And Ranging
Transmitter
Transmitter

Receiver
circulator range distance r

Data
Recording
"  Backscattered signals

Radar is an active The sensor transmits a microwave signal towards a

remote sensing system target and detects the backscattered radiation
operating at the The strength of the backscattered signal indicates
microwave the target property
wavelength. The time delay between the transmitted and
reflected signals determines the distance (or
Radar is a ranging range) to the target
instrument.
 22

v  a transmitter
v  a receiver
v  an antenna and
v  an electronics system to process and record the data.
v  a duplexer (The duplexer separates the outgoing and
v  returned pulses by blocking reception during transmission.)
The transmitter generates successive short bursts (or pulses) of microwave (A)
at regular intervals which are focused by the antenna into a beam (B).
The radar beam illuminates the surface obliquely at a right angle to the motion
of the platform. The antenna receives a portion of the transmitted energy
reflected (or backscattered) from various objects within the illuminated beam
(C).
By measuring the time delay between the transmission of a pulse and the
reception of the backscattered "echo" from different targets, their distance
from the radar and thus their location can be determined. As the sensor
platform moves forward, recording and processing of the backscattered signals
builds up a two dimensional image of the surface.
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Side Looking Radar Geometry

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RADAR BANDS
The microwave region of the spectrum is quite large, relative to the visible and
infrared, and there are several wavelength ranges or bands commonly used
which given code letters during World War II, and remain to this day.

Ka, K, and Ku bands: very short wavelengths used in early airborne radar
systems, but uncommon today.
•X-band: used extensively on airborne systems for military reconnaissance and
terrain mapping.
•C-band: common on many airborne research systems (CCRS Convair-580 and
NASA AirSAR) and spaceborne systems (including ERS-1 and 2 and
RADARSAT).
•S-band: used on board the Russian ALMAZ satellite.
•L-band: used onboard American SEASAT and Japanese JERS-1 satellites and
NASA airborne system.
•P-band: longest radar wavelengths, used on NASA experimental airborne
research system
 28

RADAR
•  RADAR Wavelengths and Frequencies used in
Active Microwave Remote Sensing Investigations
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Radar Frequency Bands

Wavelength 1 km 1m 1 mm 1 µm 1 nm

Frequency 1 MHz 1 GHz 109 Hz 1012 Hz

IR UV
Visible

Ku
K
UHF L-Band S-Band C-Band X-Band Ka
VH W
F
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Allocated Frequency (GHz)

30 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Wavelength (cm)
 30

Types of RADAR
§  Non-imaging radar
§  Traffic police use handheld Doppler radar system determine the
speed by measuring frequency shift between transmitted and
return microwave signal
§  Plan position indicator (PPI) radars use a rotating antenna to
detect targets over a circular area, such as NEXRDA
§  Satellite-based radar altimeters (low spatial resolution but high
vertical resolution)
§  Imaging radar
§  Usually high spatial resolution,
§  Consists of a transmitter, a receiver, one or more antennas, GPS,
computers
 31

Advantages of RADAR imagery

v Active microwave energy penetrates clouds and can be an
all-weather remote sensing system.
v Synoptic views of large areas, for mapping at 1:25,000 to
1:400,000; cloud-shrouded countries may be imaged.
v Coverage can be obtained at user-specified times, even at
night.
v Permits imaging at shallow look angles, resulting in different
perspectives that cannot always be obtained using aerial
photography.
v Senses in wavelengths outside the visible and infrared
regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, providing
information on surface roughness, dielectric
properties, and moisture content.
 32
Advantages of RADAR imagery
v May penetrate vegetation, sand, and surface layers of snow.
v Has its own illumination, and the angle of illumination can be
controlled.
v Enables resolution to be independent of distance to the object,
with the size of a resolution cell being as small as 1 x 1 m.
v Images can be produced from different types of polarized
energy (HH, HV, VV, VH).
v M ay operate simultaneously in several wavelengths
(frequencies) and thus has multi-frequency potential.
v Can measure ocean wave properties, even from orbital
altitudes.
v Can produce overlapping images suitable for stereoscopic
viewing and radargrammetry.
v Supports interferometric operation using two antennas for 3-D
mapping, and analysis of incident-angle signatures of objects.
Space Vehicles
•  Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission –
SRTM
•  NASA, DLR, ASI
•  February 2000, 11
days
•  X and C band
•  25m ve 90m
resolution
•  Global DTM
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Airbornes
•  F-SAR (X-, C-, S-, F SAR
L- , P-)
(resolution<1m)
•  E-SAR (X-, C-, L- ,
P-band)

•  NASA: AIRSAR
(C-, L- ,P-band) 1m,
http://www.dlr.de/hr/desktopdefault.aspx/
tabid-2326/3776_read-5691/ 34
 Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle
•  NASA: UAVSAR
(Uninhabited Aerial
Vehicle SAR)
•  L-band
•  1,8 x 0,8 (range-
azimuth)

35
http://uavsar.jpl.nasa.gov/technology/
 (GroundPenetrating Radar GPR)

•  For archeologic
research
•  Mining research (40 m)
•  Water pipes, tunnels
•  Vegetation

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http://www.malags.com/getattachment/Innovation/GPR-Explained/MALA-GPR-principle.jpg
 GPR , İsveç Norrköping

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120 cm depth http://archeosciences.revues.org/1630
 SAR systems
ER J- RADARSAT ENVISA ALOS TerraSAR- RADARSAT2 Cosmo- Sentinel- Kompsat ALOS-2
S E 1 T PALSA X SkyMed 1 =5
R ASAR R 2013
1 S

ER
S

2
Wavelengths C L C C L X C X C X L

Temporal 35/ 44 24 gün 35 gün 46 gün 11 gün 24 gün 16 gün 12 gün 28 gün 14 gün
resolution 1 g
gü ü
n n

Incidence 23◦ 40◦ 10◦-60◦ 13◦-39◦ 8◦-60◦ 15◦-60◦ 10◦-60◦ 20◦-60◦ 18◦-47◦ 25-45-55 8-70º
Angle

Resolution 25 25m 8m-100m 30m-1k 7-100m 1-2-3-6- 1-3-8-25-30-5 1-3-15-30-1 5-30-100 1-3-20m 1-3 -6
m m 16m 0-100m 00m m -1
0
m
Swath Width 10 100 45-100-150- 100-400 70 10-30-300 20-25-50-75 10-30-40 20-80-25 2-30-100 25-50-7
(km) 0 300 100-150-300- 0-400 0-350

Scan SAR Yo Yok 500m 100m 100m 100m 50-100 m 100-200 Yok 100m 100 m
Modülü k

Polarizasyon VV HH HH Single Single Single Single Single Single Single Single

https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/
 39
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/p/paz
 RADARSAT-1 example

Ø  Different levels: 35 different levels

Ø  Positions – incidence angle10° - 60°

RADARSAT International 1996. Radarsat Geology Handbook. Richmond, B.C.

RADARSAT-1 example
Ø Temporal Resolution
§  24 days

RADARSAT International 1996. Radarsat

Geology Handbook. Richmond, B.C.

Acq. Mode (35 Variability) Frame area (km 2) Spatial

Resolution(m)
ScanSAR Wide (1) 500 x 500 100

ScanSAR Narrow (2) 300 x 300 50

Extended Low (1) 170 x 170 35

Wide (3) 150 x 150 30

Standard (7) 100 x 100 25

Extended High (6) 75 x 75 25

Fine (15) 50 x 50 8
 COSMO-SkyMed
COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation

42
http://www.e-geos.it/products/cosmo.html
 COSMO-SkyMed

http://www.cosmo-skymed.it/en/
index.htm
43
COSMO-SkyMed
•  Imaging Capacity
•  Each satellite can acquire, daily:
•  Up to 75 SPOTLIGHT images
•  Up to 375 STRIPMAP or 150 SCANSAR images
•  The complete constellation can acquire a daily total of 1800 images
•  1500 Wide Field
•  300 Narrow Field
•  560 GB/day
•  Interferometric capability
•  One of the best performances of COSMO-SkyMed system is the capability to carry out very
accurate measurements based on phase signal (Interferometry) by using indifferently the satellites
of the constellation. This guarantees a huge choice in terms of time intervals for change detection
and coherence analysis (starting from 1 day intervals) and at the same time provides
unprecedented revisit for applications based on the collection of a long time series of images.
•  Polarmetric products
•  Better target recognition
•  STRIPMAP mode in PINGPONG configuration
•  15m resolution, 30km swath

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TerraSAR-X

45
46
 47

Radar Geometry

•  nadir
•  azimuth flight direction
•  look direction
•  range (near and far)
•  depression angle (γ)
•  incidence angle (θ)
•  altitude above ground-level, H
•  polarization
Radar Geometry
•  The incidence angle is the angle between the
radar pulse of EMR and a line perpendicular to the
Earth’s surface where it makes contact. When the
terrain is flat, the incidence angle is the complement
( 90 - γ) of the depression angle (γ).
•  The depression angle (γ) is the angle between a
horizontal plane extending out from the aircraft
fuselage and the electromagnetic pulse of energy
from the antenna to a specific point on the ground.
Incidence Angle & Local Incidence
Angle
•  http://web.pdx.edu/~emch/ip2/RADAR.pdf
 50

Azimuth Direction
•  The aircraft travels in a straight line
that is called the azimuth flight
direction
•  P u l s e s o f a c t i v e m i c r o w a v e
electromagnetic energy illuminate
strips of the terrain at right angles
(orthogonal) to the aircraft’s
direction of travel, which is called
the range or look direction.
•  The terrain illuminated nearest the
aircraft in the line of sight is called
the near-range. The farthest point
of terrain illuminated by the pulse of
energy is called the far-range.
 51

Viewing Geometry
v The platform travels forward in the
flight direction (A) with the nadir
(B) directly beneath the platform.
v The microwave beam is transmitted
obliquely at right angles to the
direction of flight illuminating a
swath (C) which is offset from
nadir.
v Range (D) refers to the across track Near range (A)
dimension perpendicular to the flight
direction, while azimuth (E) refers to
the along-track dimension parallel to
the flight direction. This side-looking
viewing geometry is typical of imaging
radar systems (airborne or Far range (B)
spaceborne).
 Polarization

Unpolarized energy vibrates in all possible directions perpendicular to the

direction of travel.

• Radar antennas send and receive polarized energy.

This means that the pulse of energy is filtered so that its electrical wave
vibrations are only in a single plane that is perpendicular to the direction of
travel. The pulse of electromagnetic energy sent out by the antenna may be
vertically or horizontally polarized.

Jensen, 2009
 Polarization

The transmitted pulse of electromagnetic energy interacts with

the terrain and some of it is back-scattered at the speed of light
toward the aircraft or spacecraft where it once again must pass
through a filter. If the antenna accepts the back-scattered
energy, it is recorded. Various types of back-scattered polarized
energy may be recorded by the radar.
Jensen, 2009
 54

Polarization
•  Polarization refers to the orientation of
the electric field.
•  Most radars are designed to transmit microwave
radiation either horizontally polarized (H) or
vertically polarized (V). Similarly, the antenna
receives either the horizontally or vertically
polarized backscattered energy, and some radars
can receive both.
•  There can be four combinations of both transmit
and receive polarizations as follows

•  •HH - for horizontal transmit and horizontal

receive,
•  •VV - for vertical transmit and vertical receive,
•  •HV - for horizontal transmit and vertical
receive, and
•  •VH - for vertical transmit and horizontal
receive.
Polarization

Jensen, 2009
 Polarization

Jensen, 2009
 Polarization

Jensen, 2009
 Polarization

• HH and VV configurations produce like-polarized

radar imagery.

• HV and VH configurations produce cross-polarized

imagery.
Jensen, 2009
 59

•  The incidence angle (A) at any point

within the range is the angle between the
radar beam direction (of look) and a line
perpendicular (normal) to the surface
which increases, moving across the swath
from near to far range.
•  The look angle (B) is the angle at which
the radar "looks"at the surface.
At all ranges the radar antenna measures the radial line of
sight distance between the radar and each target on the
surface. This is the slant range distance (C). The
ground range distance (D) is the true horizontal
distance along the ground ccorresponding to each point
measured in slant range.
At the radar antenna, the angle between a horizontal plane
(essentially, parallel to a level surface) and a given slant
range direction is called the depression angle ( beta ) .
 60

Geometry of Radar
Slant-range and Ground-range
• Slant-range geometry: based on the actual distance from
the radar to each feature in the scene
• Uncorrected radar images have slant-range geometry, where
objects in the near-range are compressed more than objects in
the far range
• Ground-range geometry: radar imagery corrected so that
features are in their proper planimetric position
The range, or distance, between the transmitter
and reflecting objects
R = (c.t)/2
R = slant range (direct distance between
transmitter and object)
c = speed of light (3 x 108 m/sec)
t = time between pulse transmission and
echo reception
Slant Range/Ground Range
•  - slant range image, in
which distances are
measured between the
antenna and the
target.
•  - ground range image,
in which distances are
measured between the
platform ground track
and the target,
Resolution
•  Spatial Resolution
•  Spectral Resolution
•  Temporal Resolution
•  Radiometric Resolution
 63

Spatial Resolution
A radar's SPATIAL RESOLUTION is a function of the specific
properties of the microwave radiation and geometrical effects.
 64

The range or accross track resolution

The range or across-track resolution is dependent on the length of
the pulse (P). Two distinct targets on the surface will be resolved in the
range dimension if their separation is greater than half the pulse length.
For example, targets 1 and 2 will not be separable while targets 3 and 4
will. Slant range resolution remains constant, independent of range.
However, when projected into ground range coordinates, the resolution in
ground range will be dependent of the incidence angle. Thus, for fixed
slant range resolution, the ground range resolution will decrease with
increasing range. Finer range resolution can be achieved by using a
shorter pulse length, which can be done within certain engineering design
restrictions. The formula for ground range resolution is:
Rr(in cm) = t0*c/2cos B,

where t0 is the pulse duration (in microseconds),

c is the speed of light (3 x 108 m.sec)
and (beta) is the depression angle.
 65

Azimuth or Along-Track Resolution

The azimuth or along-track resolution is determined by the angular
width of the radiated microwave beam and the slant range distance.
This beamwidth (A) is a measure of the width of the illumination pattern.
As the radar illumination propagates to increasing distance from the sensor,
the azimuth resolution increases (becomes coarser).
Finer azimuth resolution can be achieved by increasing the antenna length.
(SAR)
 β rdy = λ / D (Angular resolution)
λ : wavelength
D: length of antenna
66
•  Ra=R λ / D In this illustration, targets 1 and 2 in the
near range would be separable, but targets
3 and 4 at further range would not. The
radar beamwidth is inversely proportional
to the antenna length (also referred to as
the aperture) which means that a longer
antenna (or aperture) will produce a
narrower beam and finer resolution.

The formula of azimuthal resolution is

(bean width in radian (angle resolution)
Ra(in cm) = Sλ / AL
where S is the slant range (in km),
λ is the system wavelength, and
AL is the effective length of the antenna in
centimeters.

67
Distorsitions
 69

Radar image distortions

As with all remote sensing systems, the viewing geometry of
a radar results in certain geometric distortions on the
resultant imagery.
However, there are key differences for radar imagery which
are due to the side-looking viewing geometry, and the fact
that the radar is fundamentally a distance measuring device.
Some of these distortions are scale distortions and relief
distortions.
Scale Distortion occurs in the slant-range direction
because radar measures distances in the direction of the
beam not in ground distance. The same distance on the
ground (A1) and (B1) are seen by the radar as (A2) and (B2).
The scale is shortened in the near range compared to the far
range.
 70
This conversion comparison
shows a radar image in slant-
range display (top) where the
fields and the road in the near
range on the left side of the
image are compressed, and the
same image converted to
ground-range display(bottom)
with the features in their proper
geometric shape.

-What is foreshortening???

When the radar beam reaches

the base of a tall feature tilted
towards the radar (e.g. a
mountain) before it reaches the
top, foreshortening will occur.
 71

Because the radar measures distance

in slant-range, the slope (A to B) will
appear compressed and the length of
the slope will be represented
incorrectly (A' to B'). Depending on
the angle of the hillside or mountain
slope in relation to the incidence angle
of the radar beam, the severity of
foreshortening will vary. Maximum
foreshortening occurs when the radar
beam is perpendicular to the slope
such that the slope, the base, and the
top are imaged simultaneously (C to
D). The length of the slope will be
reduced to an effective length of zero
in slant range (C'D').
 72

A radar image of steep mountain terrain

with severe foreshortening effects.
The foreshorted slopes appear as bright
features on the image.
-What is layover???
occurs when the radar beam reaches the
top of a tall feature (B) before it reaches
the base (A). The return signal from the
top of the feature will be received before
the signal from the bottom.
As a result, the top of the feature is
displaced towards the radar from its true
position on the ground, and "lays over"
the base of the feature
(B' to A').
Layover effects on a radar image.
Layover is most severe for small
incident angles, at the near range of a
swath, and in mountainous terrain.
 73

Radar shadow occurs when the

radar beam is not able to illuminate
the ground surface.
Since the radar beam does not
illuminate the surface, shadowed
regions will appear dark on an image
as no energy is available to be
backscattered.
As incidence angle increases from near
to far range, so will shadow effects as
the radar beam looks more and more
obliquely at the surface.

Radar shadow effects

on the right side of the
hillsides which are being
illuminated from the left
 74

Radar Distortions
Scale Distortions

Since the backscattered energy is collected in slant range, the received energy
coming from a slope facing the sensor is stored in a reduced area in the
image, ie, it is compressed into fewer pixels than should be the case if ob-
tained in ground range geometry. This results in high digital numbers
because the energy collected from different objects is combined. Slopes
facing the radar appear (very) bright. Unfortunately this effect cannot be
corrected L. This is why especially layover and shadow areas in a radar
image cannot be used for interpretation. However, they are useful in the
sense that they contribute to a three-dimensional look of the image and
therefore help the understanding of surface structure and terrain relief.
 75

References
• http://www.crisp.nus.edu.sg/~research/tutorial/sar_int.htm
• Remote Sensing of the Environment John R. Jensen (2007)
• Second Edition Pearson Prentice Hall
• Advanced Geological Remote Sensing Notes, University of Puerto Rico,
Mauaguez
• UCL Lecture notes, Mathias Disney, Principles of Remote Sensing 10:
Applications of Radar Imagery
• Lecture notes of Fusun Balik Sanli, Yıldız Technical University
• Introduction to Microwave Remote Sensing, David P. Lush, 1999,
Michagan State University

•  http://www.gisresources.com/wp-content/
uploads/2014/03/03-04-
FebEDUSAT_Introduction-to-Microwave-
Remote-Sensing.pdf
•  http://web.pdx.edu/~emch/ip2/RADAR.pdf