Development of a high resolution airborne millimeter wave FM-CW SAR

The combination of compact FM-CW radar technology and high resolution SAR processing techniques should pave the way fur the development of a small, lightweight and cost effective imaging radar. In the field of airborne earth ohservation, SAR is however a novel application fur FM-CW radars. At IRCTR a project was started to investigate the practical feasibility of FM-CW SAR. Within the framework of this project a fully operational airborne FM-CW SAR demonstrator system has been developed and tested. An overview of the ground based tests will be given. Moreover, in June 2004, a very successful airborne campaign was carried out at the Stransherg airfield near Berlin. The first, ,preliminary results from these airborne experiments will he presented.