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Training Course on Understanding and Using Satellite Radar Data

Point of contact
Lynn Heeley
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
Monkstone House, City Road
PE1 1JY Peterborough
Phone: +44-1773-562626


Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data can be acquired day and night, even in cloudy conditions, providing a dense time-series for trend analysis and change detection. Environmental applications for SAR data include forest inventory and condition monitoring, habitat and crop mapping, detection of pollution, and monitoring of offshore infrastructure and vessels.

The UK public sector is starting to use SAR data to support environmental policy delivery, but further skill development is needed to fully exploit potential.

JNCC organised a course of training sessions on understanding, accessing and using SAR data which covered the following topics:

  • Brief history, fundamentals of electromagnetic waves, polarisation, combination of waves
  • How microwaves interact with surface features, surface roughness, moisture content, vegetation
  • How radar builds an image, data properties, unique challenges of radar, geometric distortions
  • How to find and process data (practical session)

Please use the below-mentioned link to access the videos and presentation slides of the training course.