Abstract: Provided is a non-statistical method for compressing and decompressing complex SAR data derived from reflected energy. The method includes selecting a first FFT to provide a target ratio of pixel spacing to resolution. A second FFT is then selected which is smaller than the first FFT. The data is zero-padded to fill the second FFT and transformed to provide at least one transfer frequency. This transfer frequency is then transferred to the at least one remote site. At the remote site the second FFT is inverted to restore the data from the received transfer frequency. The restored data is then zero-padded again to fill the first FFT. The first FFT is then used to transform the zero-padded restored data to provide a data set of points with the target ratio of pixel spacing to resolution.