Ultra-lightweight synthetic aperture radar based on a 35 GHz FMCW sensor concept and online raw data transmission

With the increasing number of small-size unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for remote sensing, reconnaissance and surveillance applications, the demand for miniaturised and low weight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor systems for these platforms has increased. Because of the extreme payload weight restrictions of unmanned platforms, size, weight and power (SWP) characteristics actually become dominating design drivers for UAV SAR developments. The author focuses on the development of a highly miniaturised SAR (MISAR) sensor that was especially designed for UAVs with stringent payload SWP constraints. The paper gives an overview of the design considerations for the MISAR sensor system. The realisation of the sensor is described and the results of test flights in fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft and in UAVs are presented.