Almost all of the breakthroughs in understanding the ocean have been initiated by observations, using a range of instrumental techniques. Nowadays, satellite application is a good answer to the common requirement of meteorology and oceanography for comprehensive information on the ocean and atmosphere. Many different instruments have been installed on earth observation satellites. Among them the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is the only instrument which up to now can provide high-resolution, two dimensional sea surface information on a global scale. Written as a comprehensive introduction to...