Surficial Material Assessment
Non-vegetated, unconsolidated surficial material contains different fragment sizes which may produce a characteristic soil roughness and soil moisture holding capability. Radar is sensitive to changes in roughness and moisture, and the result is contrasting backscatter between different surficial units.

RADARSAT beam mode - All beam modes are suitable for the assessment of surficial materials. The final beam mode selection is dependent on the areal coverage and level of detail required. Generally, Fine and Standard beam modes are best suited for detailed surficial material assessment, while Wide and ScanSAR are better for regional surficial material assessment.

RADARSAT incidence angle - If surficial material is assessed based on soil moisture, steep incidence angles are preferred to minimize backscatter associated with soil roughness. If surficial materials are assessed based on soil surface roughness, shallow incidence angles are better suited.

Look direction - Orientation of geological structures relative to look direction should be considered.

When to acquire RADARSAT data - If surficial material assessment is based on soil surface roughness, then acquire data when moisture levels are low to ensure that the backscatter is more closely correlated to surface roughness than it is to moisture content.