Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Imagery

This geodatabase contains Synthetic Aperture Radar images (SAR), which consist of a fine resolution (12.5-50m), two-dimensional radar backscatter map of the roughness of the ocean surface. The interaction between the SAR pulse of microwave energy---X-band (3cm), C-band (6cm) and L-band (24 cm) ---and the ocean surface is complex, as it is dependent on wavelength, polarization, geometry, environmental conditions and the electrical properties of the oceans surface. Ocean features commonly seen on SAR imagery include surface waves, mesocscale ocean circulation structures such as eddies and currents, oily slicks and surface manifestations of ocean dynamics present below the surface, including internal waves and currents passing over shallow shoals. NAMING CONVENTION: The naming convention of the imagery is as follows: SAR_Year_JulianDay_Month_Day_Time(in GMT)_Scene#So for example, SAR_1997_134_5_14_T223315 would read as SAR imagery taken on May 14 (JulianDay 134), 1997 at 22:33:15 GMT time.