Synthetic Aperture Radar（SAR） is a more effective remote sensing data source for rice recognition and monitoring than optical remote sensing in the regions with more wet and cloudy sky due to its all-weather, all-time, high resolution and wide covering characteristics. This paper summarizes SAR types and their feature used for rice study, introduces the backscattering model for rice monitoring, and analyses the main factors influencing backscattering coefficient. The studies of rice recognition and monitoring based on SAR in domestic and abroad are reviewed and the futures in the related areas are prospected.
