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Upskill / Aerospace and Space / Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for Earth observation

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for Earth observation

How radar satellites and aircraft image the Earth through cloud and darkness, the rules that govern their spectrum, licences, data and installation, and how floods, ships, ice, crops and ground motion are mapped today.

By Aerospace Garage Desk · Practitioner · 40 minutes · 20 narrated pages · Updated October 2026

What you will be able to do

  • ✓ Explain how SAR forms an image: side-looking geometry, the synthetic aperture, bandwidth and imaging modes
  • ✓ Compare X-, C- and L-band radars, read polarisation and scattering, and choose the right product level
  • ✓ Describe Sentinel-1, commercial SAR constellations, how SAR satellites are built and retired, and the approvals for radar on aircraft
  • ✓ Apply the ITU spectrum rules, national remote-sensing licensing in the US, Canada and the UAE, and Copernicus data conditions
  • ✓ Use SAR for floods, ships, oil, ice, ground motion and farming, and judge automated results critically

Course content

Session 1 · How radar images the Earth

1

  1. An instrument that brings its own light · free preview
  2. A long antenna made from motion
  3. Resolution, swath and imaging modes
  4. Worked example: resolution from bandwidth and antenna length
Session 2 · Bands, polarisation and the radar image

2

  1. Choosing a wavelength: X, C and L
  2. Polarisation, scattering and speckle
  3. From raw echoes to analysis-ready products
  4. Worked example: wavelength, vegetation and one fringe
Session 3 · Satellites, aircraft and the SAR supply chain

3

  1. Sentinel-1: an operational radar service
  2. Commercial constellations and how SAR satellites are built
  3. Radar on aircraft: installation approvals
  4. From the investigation file: Sentinel-1B and the lost power bus
Session 4 · Spectrum, licensing and data rules

4

  1. Spectrum: permission to transmit
  2. Licences to operate an imaging satellite
  3. Open data, licences and compliance
  4. Worked example: fitting a resolution target into the spectrum
Session 5 · Applications, markets and trends

5

  1. Floods and disaster response
  2. Ships, oil and ice
  3. Ground motion, farming and the data market
  4. Worked example: a flood map, pixel by pixel

Who this course is for

Upskill courses are for professional development and are not approved by any aviation authority. Learner Terms

Course content © Aerospace Garage Limited. All rights reserved.