SAR-Light: the new ONERA SAR sensor onboard UAV

Abstract:
Radar remote sensing data are used in a wide range of applications such as the detection and tracking of targets, the characterization of the environment or the estimation of geophysical parameters. These data are usually collected by SAR instruments on-board airplanes or satellites. However, developments in technologies permit radar sensors to be miniaturized, which now allow them to be embedded on-board smaller platforms such as UAVs. ONERA is currently developing a new line of SAR instruments on-board UAV, called SAR-Light. In its first version, it is a mono-polarized (VV) SAR operating in X-band at high spatial resolution (0.25 m). This paper presents the SAR-Light instrument and describes the performance obtained during a flight tests campaign carried out in April 2021 in the South of France.