Search and rescue operations by air can be hampered by cloud cover, but a group of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) scientists has developed a radar that creates images from radio waves which can even penetrate through plumes of smoke.

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can see through the thick dust and ash a volcano spews out to locate survivors during an eruption. It is also able to interpret information that is not visible to the naked eye, such as ground soil types or minute tectonic plate movements.