The key importance of radar remote sensing for civil applications has been recognized for decades, and enormous scientific and technical developments have been carried out in the last years.
The present availability of the high-resolution sensors (as CosmoSkyMed, TerraSAR-X/TanDEM- X, Radarsat-2), dual and full polarimetric SAR sensors (as ALOS-PALSAR1/2, Radarsat-2, TerraSAR-X/TanDEM- X), and the new European sensors Sentinel-1 A and B (Copernicus programme), as well as the planned SAOCOM-CS, supplying a continuous stream of imagery, offers an unprecedented amount of high quality SAR data.
SAR satellite constellations consisting of two or more satellites are getting the “new normal” in SAR remote sensing; moreover, concepts like a geosynchronous SAR or the use of non-traditional orbits for fast revisiting times over areas of interest are expected to play an important role for the future development of SAR remote sensing.
Therefore, this wide technological availability, suitable for a variety of known applications provided proper data processing methodology are applied, stimulates methodological advances and innovative concepts; moreover, new applications are opened and the already established ones can benefit of a sort of second life.
This is the why of this SIG, and a substantial, albeit not exhaustive, list of topics of interest spans from the methodology and algorithms to the constellations, and to geometric and thematic applications: theories and methods for the analysis of SAR imagery (interferometry, radargrammetry, tomography, polarimetry); new SAR satellite constellations, non-sun-synchronous orbits and geosynchronous SAR; point and surface motion estimation; Digital Surface Models generation and accuracy assessment; applications in monitoring and assessing environment, landuse/landcover, nature resources, weather/atmosphere and climate, cryosphere, coastal and ocean, forestry/agricultural ecosystems/biodiversity, and archaeology.