| Burn Delineation |
After a forest area is
affected by a fire, the affected area
dries out and leaves and small twigs
fall off the trees resulting in a
contrast in moisture levels and
structure between the burn area
and surrounding forest. Radar is
sensitive to differences in these
parameters resulting in a contrast in backscatter. |
| Clear Cuts in Forests |
The relatively smooth
surface of clear cuts produce little backscatter compared
to the rougher canopy of
uncut forest. These differences in
backscatter allow forest clear cuts to
be potentially delineated from
uncut forest. |
| Co-seismic |
Co-seismic events are
those which occur at the same time as an
earthquake, usually in a matter
of seconds of the initial event. |
| Crop Damage Assessment |
Damage to crops alters
the geometric structure of plants and
canopy surface roughness. Damaged
areas have different geometric
structure/roughness than surrounding
areas, therefore producing contrasting
backscatter.
|
Crop Type Determination
|
Different crops have
unique roughness and moisture
levels. Radar is sensitive to
differences in these parameters
resulting in contrasting backscatter. |
| Crustal Displacement. |
Also known as crustal
deformation, crustal displacement is
induced by the movement of the
Earth's tectonic plates. This
activity can produce a variety of
landforms at the surface of the
Earth, depending on the duration of the
process involved in their formation. |
| Flood Extent Mapping |
The smooth surface of
water bodies acts as a specular
reflector which results in a low
backscatter return.
This contrasts with the rougher surface of the
land which is a diffuse scatterer and
produces relatively high amounts
of backscatter. |
Forest Cover Type Discrimination
|
In some cases different
forest types have unique geometric
structures, canopy surface roughness and moisture
levels. Radar is sensitive to these
parameters which potentially results in
contrasting backscatter.
Different forest types can often be
inferred from terrain analysis. |
Geological Structure Mapping
|
Geological structures
often have characteristic forms which,
if located near the Earth's
surface, may be manifested
topographically as the side-looking
configuration of radar highlights relief. |
Landform Delineation
|
Landforms often have
characteristic shapes which may be
manifested as topographic relief. The
ability to image landforms is a result
of the side-looking
configuration of radar, which
highlights relief. |
| Landslide Hazard Assessment |
Landslide hazard areas
are defined when the locations of past
landslides are identified. Landslides
change the landscape through the
transportation of vegetation and soil,
thus affected areas have
different canopy and soil roughness than
surrounding unaffected areas. Radar
is sensitive to these variances in
roughness, and produces contrasting backscatter between
affected and unaffected areas |
| Subsidence |
Subsidence is the
sinking of the Earth's surface in
response to geological or
man-induced causes.( see also
"subsidence" in the
section entitled "Land
Applications" ) |
| Soil Moisture Assessment |
Variations in soil
moisture produce changes in dielectric
properties of soil. This
contrast results in increasing backscatter with
increasing soil moisture. |
Temporal Change Evaluation
|
Canopy roughness and moisture
content vary over the growing season.
Radar is sensitive to these differences
in contrasting backscatter during the
growing season. This allows for the
evaluation of change in
backscatter over several dates and
evaluation of temporal change in crop parameters. |
| Terrain Analysis |
Terrain may manifested
as topographic relief. The ability to
image topographic relief is a result of
the side-looking
configuration of radar
which highlights topographic differences. |
| Tillage Practice Determination |
Different tillage
practices produce unique soil surface roughness. Radar is
sensitive to differences in surface
roughness resulting in
contrasting backscatter. |
| Topography |
The technique of
graphically representing the exact
physical features of a place or
region on a map. |
EO Data Access
