ABSTRACT
Cosmo-SkyMed and Radarsat-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images constitute the dataset from which examples are produced for the book. A brief overview of the satellite missions and their continuity is presented in this chapter. As newcomer to the remote sensing public realm, the SAR images are presented focusing on the way by which it is acquired influences the appearance of objects, land cover, land use or geographical ensembles. Technological specifications of incidence angle, orbital path and look direction, polarization, spatial resolution, and wavelength, each is, in one or many aspects, important to keep in mind while visual clues are considered during the image interpretation process. These system design parameters were summarized, and references point to details documented in the literature. The chapter also presents the terminology applied in the book preparation, a nomenclature consistent with current practices for SAR image acquisition planning or ordering.
