The Essentials of SAR. Thomas P. Ager. TomAger LLC, Lewes, Delaware, 2022. 253 x 178 mm, xvi + 293 pp, 257 color and black and white illustrations, 4 tables, index. Paperback, ISBN 9798512864487, $50.00 Amazon.
Reviewed by: Stewart Walker, Managing Editor, LIDAR Magazine.
Tom Ager’s excellent book on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for those without expertise in mathematics, electronics or physics was reviewed in the Winter 2022 issue of LIDAR Magazine[1]. The book was praised and strongly recommended to readers. The review ended with the words, “Ager has succeeded magnificently is his mission to explain SAR in terms that almost everyone can understand. He has given thought to a sequel – LIDAR Magazine would welcome it.” It transpires that the magazine was one of a great many enthusiasts, with the result that the author was festooned not just with positive feedback but with constructive suggestions for improvements. As a result, Ager has made multiple revisions. He has improved the discussion of coherent summation in section 3.5 and added an inset box about it to Appendix II. He has adjusted the discussion about sensor independent complex images in Section 21.3 to promote use of the international GeoTIFF standard and to store pixels as amplitude and phase rather than I&Q. LIDAR Magazine is honored to be one of the sources of ideas for the changes and to appear in the acknowledgements. Ager has made a fine book better and we hope that readers with an interest in SAR will purchase and use it to enhance their understanding.
[1] https://lidarmag.com/2021/12/27/book-review-the-essentials-of-sar/