Recent results of a UAV-based Synthetic Aperture Radar for remote sensing applications

Abstract:
The rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the past years opens up new possible applications for low-altitude airborne SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) systems. Especially the detection of buried objects like landmines, unexploded ordnances (UXO) or improvised explosive devices (IED) are of great interest. This paper addresses the theoretical design and the development of a lightweight UHF-UWB (Ultra high frequency – Ultra wide band) radar module for UAV-based operation. Furthermore the paper covers experimental measurements results which have been executed under laboratory conditions in order to confirm the performance of the developed radar system.