Over the years, we have discussed how synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can provide valuable ground-truth information not available elsewhere.

In this blog, we provide a list of examples drawn from our previous work. For a refresher on SAR basics, check out this quick guide.

A picture is worth a thousand words. We’re all familiar with this phrase used to capture the essence of a photograph. How much more would a picture be worth if it not only showed the presence of an object, but also contained information on its precise location, distance, speed and direction of movement? This is exactly what is captured through synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

 In last week’s blog, we provided an overview of how Ursa is monitoring the environmental disaster caused by a vessel that ran aground off the coast of Mauritius July 25, leaking tons of oil into the Indian Ocean.

After a bulk carrier began spilling tons of oil near the southeast coast of Mauritius, creating an environmental disaster in the pristine waters of the Indian Ocean, crews worked to transfer the remaining fuel onboard and prevent further damage.

On August 12, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said almost all the oil had been pumped out, nearly a week after the vessel began leaking.

There are a number of geospatial alt data resources out there today.

The one we use for the majority of our data is Synthetic Aperture Radar (radar satellites), or SAR for short. If you're not familiar with the technology, though, it might not be intuitive how we go from a radar satellite image to an answer used in business decision making.

This infographic offers a quick step-by-step overview of how this process works.