The Requirements for the Selection and Processing of SAR Data for
  Operational
  Agricultural Applications in Europe

  by

  A Sowter,  *GG Lemoine and **H De Groof
  NRSC
  *SYNOPTICS
  **AIS-SAI

  ABSTRACT

  The requirements of any operational agricultural application in Europe, using
  optical or SAR data, required the timely selection and processing of image data
  prior to photo-interpretation.  With particular reference to the MARS activities
  of the European Union, strict deadlines for publication of results must
  be adhered to if the results are to be of any use.

  In 1996, DG6 of the European Union awarded a contract for a pilot project
  to assess the potential of SAR data for the generation of rapid crop area estimates
  in support of MARS Activity B.  This paper discusses the results of that project,
  particularly with reference to the timely selection of SAR scenes through the
  use of auxiliary data and calibrated quick looks and the subsequent
  ordering and pre-processing of the data for input to a
  photo-interpretation activity. The pre-processing included the
  radiometric correction, speckle filtering and
  terrain correction of all data used by the project.

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry