Digital Beamforming Antenna for Synthetic Aperture Radar

Future SAR instruments such as the high resolution wide swath (HRWS) SAR incorporate digital beamforming techniques to overcome fundamental limitations of conventional SAR and to offer advanced modes defined by software. The European and German Space Agencies ESA and DLR are currently conducting interlinked studies of critical Digital Beamforming SAR antenna items, including several breadboarding activities. An overview of the developments and results is presented.