2014年基金指南提出在探讨自然环境各个要素之间的相互关系以及空间分布规律时，应注重各要素不同空间尺度演化过程。当利用遥感去研究各自然环境要素时，必然要涉及到传感器成像机理、时相及空间和其它传感器系统参数等多尺度效应问题。正因为对遥感观测的尺度效应了解不够，缺乏解决该问题的系统构架，以致遥感科学与应用不能满足国家和基础研究的需求，阻碍了其自身发展，因此我们拟借鉴地学和光学遥感界在解决尺度、尺度效应问题取得的成果，构建多尺度效应下SAR理论和应用发展的系统框架。结合SAR方位合成、侧视、测斜距的独特成像机理，用在美国多年科研项目积累的数千幅多平台SAR数据集、几何-空间统计和图像信息提取技术，通过量化不同地物雷达目标的非均匀特性、方位对称性、最佳空间分辨率、数据尺度转换前后的空间相关性，验证和完善这个框架，从而认知尺度效应对SAR在地球科学应用的影响，力争解决尺度、尺度效应的难题。

As unambiguous stated in the Research Opportunity Announcement of 2014, National Science Foundation of China, attention must be given to the evolution among factors/elements that are of inter- and intra- connections in scale and scale transform when scientists explore their interactions, and spatial patterns and distributions. When remote sending techniques are used to study the factors/elements, scientists are unavoidably involved with issues of scale and scale effect. The issues are related to the image-formation mechanisms, temporal resolution, and spatial resolution as well as other system parameters of a remote sensor. The insufficiency of in-depth understanding of the scale and scale effect in remote sensing, and the unavailability of systematic frameworks and methodologies hamper the advancement in remote sensing science and application. In result, remote sensing cannot meet national and fundamental research needs. Thus, based on the progresses made on studies of scales and scale effects in geography and optical remote sensing arenas, we plan to develop and then verify the systematic framework that scales and their effects on SAR theory and application are investigated. In the development and verification, the uniqueness of acquisition or formation in SAR imagery that is based on azimuth synthesis, side-looking and ranging in slant range will be considered. Thousands of available SAR images accumulated from previous research projects in USA will be analyzed using geo-spatial statistics,and techniques in image information extraction. In particular, the heterogeneity and azimuth symmetry of radar targets, the optimum spatial resolution of a SAR sensor, and the spatial correlation before and after scale transformation of SAR images will be accessed. Consequently, we will further the understanding of the scale and scale effect on the SAR application in Earth science, and potentially resolve the problems related to scales and scale effects.