Satellites Use 'This Weird Trick' To See More Than They Should - Synthetic Aperture Radar Explained.

Synthetic Aperture Radar is a technology which was invented in the 1950's to enable aircraft to map terrain in high detail. It uses the motion of the radar and some fancy mathematics to get much higher detail images than should be possible from an antenna small enough to fit on an aircraft.
This process has been extended to satellites and applies to not just the earth, but to other terrestrial bodies in the solar system, notably Venus and Titan which are eternally shrouded in clouds.