Farming Activity Assessment
Farming is associated with the presence or lack of certain crops. Different crops have unique geometric structure, canopy roughness and moisture levels. Radar is sensitive to these differences resulting in contrasting backscatter.

RADARSAT beam mode - The size of the agricultural field being imaged should be taken into consideration when choosing a beam mode. Ideally, the beam mode resolution should be several times smaller than the size of the agricultural fields (i.e., Fine or Standard beam mode).

RADARSAT incidence angle - The main parameter differentiating crop type associated with farming activities is geometric structure of individual plants; shallow incidence angles maximize the contrast in backscatter resulting from differences in geometric structure.

Look direction - A look direction perpendicular to row direction maximizes backscatter from the crop canopy. An ascending (18:00 H local time) pass may be preferred to minimize the presence of dew which may decrease interpretation and classification accuracy. Conversely, the descending pass (06:00 H local time) may reduce the effects of rain events in areas of convection related rainfall.

When to acquire RADARSAT data - Acquire data when differences in plant geometric structure between different crop types are maximized. Crop type determination significantly improves through the use of temporal radar data acquired at different growth stages.