SAR: A Novel Application for FM-CW Radars

For small-scale earth observation applications, there is a special interest in low-cost, high-resolution imaging radars small enough to be operated from small, possibly unmanned, aircraft. The combination of the compactness of FM-CW technology and the high resolution of SAR systems should result in such a small, cost-effective imaging radar. In a new project the feasibility of FM-CW SAR is studied. SAR algorithms that take the typical characteristics of FM-CW signals into account will be developed. Furthermore, a low-cost demonstrator will be built. This demonstrator should prove the feasibility of FM-CW SAR and provide real test data to validate the processing algorithms and the design models. The demonstrator will be based on commercially available components. The system performance will be limited, but is sufficient to prove the feasibility of FM-CW SAR.