How Does Synthetic Aperture Radar Work?

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR): Radar uses radio waves to determine and map the location, direction and speed of moving and fixed objects like aircrafts, ships etc. SAR is also a type of radar. It uses the data of radar to produce a very narrow effective beam. SAR can only be used by moving instruments over immobile targets. It has been extensively used in remote sensing and mapping.

It is basically a method used to make a very long antenna by combining signals received by the radar. The aperture is an opening that is used to collect the reflected energy that is used to form an image. SAR has unique capabilities as an imaging tool. They can image at anytime of the day or night. It can also see threw cloudy and dusty weather conditions that visible and infrared instruments cannot.