Radar system that emits microwave signals to measure the power received from surface backscattering to infer earth's surface properties by measuring a multiplet of backscattering cross sections. The multiplet of signals typically includes different azimuth views and/or microwave polarizations at wavelengths on the cm scale. Satellite microwave scatterometers are mainly launched to obtain ocean vector winds, but other geophysical variables, such as soil moisture, sea ice and snow parameters, or vegetation are also obtained.