Airborne radar terrain imaging system

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems are becoming increasingly useful in military and civilian surveillance applications. Installation of a SAR system on a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (mini UAV) enables high resolution terrain imaging in adverse observational conditions, e.g. at night, in fog or in smoke, where classical or infrared cameras would be useless. Use of a small and relatively low-cost radar platform allows for reduction of the mission costs and reduces the risk of detection and destruction of the carrier by the enemy's air defence. The paper presents a concept, a structure, and the most important elements of the UAV-based SAR terrain imaging system, currently developed in a project WATSAR, jointly realized by the Institute of Radioelectronics of the Faculty of Electronics, Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland and a Polish private company WB Electronics S.A., under a grant financed by the National Centre for Research and Development. It is assumed that the system will provide high resolution radar images, comparable with aerial photographs, which will be used for tactical scale military reconnaissance. The SAR images from the developed system can also augment multisensory data processed in Battlefield Management Systems (BMS), supporting decision processes on contemporary battlefield and increasing situational awareness of individual soldiers.