Common soil and oil sand have different electromagnetic wave reflectivity. In this paper, we explore the possibility to use Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technique to identify and distinguish between three types of soil. The results from the electromagnetic wave models provide a comparison of backscattering behavior between common soil and oil sand terrain. Moreover it enables the development of a radar signature database that can provide useful reference for the design of an optimum SAR system for oil sand resource discovery.