THE DARK SIDE OF REMOTE SENSING: CURRENT SAR REMOTE SENSING MISSIONS AND APPLICATIONS

peer reviewedThe present paper provides an overview of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing concepts. SAR remote sensing is a coherent active imaging technique, where the spaceborne sensor emits an electromagnetic wave and captures its backscattered signal. Each pixel contains amplitude information, witness of the ground properties to reflect the signal back to the sensor, and a phase component, which is related to the distance from the sensor to the ground target. Firstly, we will focus on SAR and SAR interferometry concepts. The acquisition geometry, the different wavelengths, the issue of spatial resolution, the polarization; SAR has a number of differences compared to optical remote sensing. In addition, the coherent imaging technique allows the exploitation of the phase information, with applications such as DEM generation or surface displacements retrieval. In a second part, we will discuss the current and future SAR constellations as well as recent advances in applications coming from the deep learning field. The domain of SAR remote sensing is a rapidly evolving field, where more and more satellites are being set up and where the private sector is investing massively. Service-oriented market using small X-Band SAR satellites is getting more and more present. In parallel, public institutions already have several important SAR satellites and are currently preparing the next generation, with improved technical specifications