Side looking airborne radar

Imagine you are playing with a toy airplane and you want to see what's happening on the ground below from way up in the sky. You might have a camera on your toy airplane that takes pictures of what's on the ground.

Now, imagine that instead of a camera, the toy airplane has a special machine called a side looking airborne radar. This machine can send out waves of energy that bounce off objects on the ground, like buildings or cars, and come back to the machine. Then, the machine uses those waves to make a picture of what's on the ground.

It's like a fancy way of playing pretend spy or detective! Side looking airborne radar is used by real airplanes and helicopters to take pictures of the ground below, especially if it's hard to get a good view from the ground or if the area is really big. It's very helpful for things like finding lost people or seeing what's happening in an area after a natural disaster.