Oceans cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and provide numerous services to the environment and humans. Precise, real-time, and large-scale monitoring of the oceanographic parameters is essential for ocean conservation and understanding the interactions between oceans and the atmosphere. In this regard, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems, with unique capabilities (e.g., day-night and almost all-weather data acquisition), provide valuable datasets for ocean studies. Many studies have exploited the applications of SAR imagery for oceans and have proposed numerous methods to study oceanographic parameters. In this study, a brief introduction to SAR and the interaction between microwave signals and the ocean surface are initially provided. Then, the important spaceborne and airborne SAR systems for oceanographic applications are summarized. Subsequently, 12 different applications of SAR systems in the ocean are comprehensively discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of SAR systems for ocean studies are extensively explored. Finally, the research trend on SAR applications in the ocean is provided by analyzing all the relevant papers published between 1973 and the end of December 2022, and the existing challenges are discussed for future studies.

Bioretention cells (BRCs) are a promising low-impact development (LID) practice that are commonly used in urban settings to improve the water quality and mitigate the hydrological effects of stormwater runoff. BRCs have been the subject of extensive research in order to better comprehend their function and improve their effectiveness. However, BRC performance differs greatly among regions in terms of hydrologic performance and quality enhancement. Due to this variance in BRC effectiveness, the current study conducted a comprehensive systematic review to answer the question, “Are BRCs an effective LID method for urban catchment stormwater management?”. This review study analyzed the effectiveness of BRCs in mitigating hydrologic impacts and enhancing the quality of stormwater runoff in urban catchments. A review of 114 field, laboratory, and modeling studies on BRCs found that the promising BRCs may be one of the most successful approaches to restore urban hydrology cycle and improve stormwater water quality. With further development of BRCs, their performance in terms of quantity and quality will become more reliable, helping to develop long-term solutions to stormwater urban drainage issues. At the end of this review, the knowledge gaps and future prospects for BRC research are presented. In addition to providing a foundational grasp of BRC, this review study outlines the key design recommendations for BRC implementation in order to address the issues raised by certain BRC design errors.

This paper presents a novel methodology for optimizing installation of low impact development practices (LIDs) in an urban hydrological catchment. This methodology helps stakeholders in deciding on what kind and area of LID must be installed in each sub‐catchment to attenuate pluvial flooding as a result of intense rain events. The main novelty consists of the community's engagement in the optimization process, by means of an additional objective function to consider the community's appreciation for the choice of LIDs. The methodology is applied to a real case study, i.e., a part of the urban drainage system (UDS) of Genoa, which is frequently plagued by pluvial flooding events that annoy the community. Following a survey of community preferences, the results of which were collected by means of participatory mapping, the methodology yields a Pareto front of trade‐off solutions between installation costs, pluvial flooding volumes, and community satisfaction. From the front, stakeholders can select the ultimate solution based on budget constraints and/or on expected joint performance in terms of flood attenuation and community satisfaction.

This work presents the optimization of installation sites for sustainable urban drainage (SUD) installations to attenuate flooding in urban drainage systems. The algorithm used in the analysis is a multi-objective genetic algorithm, in which three objectives are considered: the total cost of SUD installations, to be minimized; the total flooding volume, to be minimized; and a third novel function to consider satisfaction with the community’s call for action, obtained by means of participatory mapping, to be maximized. The innovative methodology is applied and tested in a case study of the Sampierdarena district in Genoa, northern Italy.