Applications potential of planned C-band SAR satellites: leading to RADARSAT-2

To date, satellite SAR data for civilian purposes, have been routinely available from single channel, i.e., single frequency and single polarization, radar systems. In the near future, we expect satellite SAR systems with enhanced capabilities in terms of polarization, frequency, spatial resolution, spatial coverage and temporal resolution. In this paper, we discuss the increase in applications potential resulting from the progress in SAR technology, in particular in C-band systems. The application fields discussed include agriculture, forestry, geology, hydrology, oceans, and sea ice. Most applications are anticipated to benefit from the upcoming availability of cross-polarized C-band data. Likewise the introduction of fully polarimetric C-band satellite SAR systems is expected to improve the overall application potential