Washington, D.C.
Photo ID: P-45319
March 2, 1995
This radar image of the Washington, D.C. area demonstrates the capability of
imaging radar as a useful tool for urban planners and managers to map and
monitor land use patterns. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X- SAR) aboard the space
shuttle Endeavour on its 150th orbit on April 18, 1994. North is toward the
upper right. The Potomac River enters the scene at the top of the image,
widens near the center of the image, then runs south and west off the left
side of the image. Downtown Washington appears near the center, just to the
right of the point where the river widens. The image shows an area 50.3
kilometers by 45.0 kilometers (31.2 miles by 27.9 miles) that is centered at
38.9 degrees north latitude and 77.1 degrees west longitude. The radar
illumination is from the left side of the image. The image shows a single
channel of SIR-C radar data: L-band, horizontally transmitted and received.
State and city boundaries are also visible in the image. Virginia is to the
left (southwest) of the Potomac River. Maryland and the District of Columbia
are to the right (northeast). The avenues that form the boundary between
Maryland and the District of Columbia appear as bright lines because the
radar strikes the walls of buildings along the avenues at a perpendicular
angle. The dark strip near the center of the image is the National Mall, and
the Ellipse and White House grounds can be seen as an adjacent dark patch.
The Capital Beltway highway appears as a thin black strip encircling the
city. The large dark rectangle near the bottom of the image is Andrews Air
Force Base, home of the presidential plane Air Force One. Dark patches to
the right of the image represent some of the few remaining agricultural
areas in this rapidly expanding metropolitan area.
![[WASHINGTON, DC]](WASHINDC.GIF)