Compact, autonomous, multi-mission synthetic aperture radar

Thomas J. Walls; Michael L. Wilson; David Madsen; Chad Knight; Mark D. Jensen; Darin C. Partridge; Mike Addario

doi:10.1117/12.2018282

31 May 2013 Compact, autonomous, multi-mission synthetic aperture radar

Thomas J. Walls, Michael L. Wilson, David Madsen, Chad Knight, Mark D. Jensen, Darin C. Partridge, Mike Addario

Proceedings Volume 8714, Radar Sensor Technology XVII; 87140Y (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2018282
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2013, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

The utilization of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) applications continues to increase and unmanned systems have become a critical asset in current and future battlespaces. With the development of medium-to-low altitude, rapidly deployable aircraft platforms, the ISR community has seen an increasing push to develop ISR sensors and systems with real-time mission support capabilities. This paper describes the design and development of the RASAR (Real-time, Autonomous, Synthetic Aperture Radar) sensor system and presents demonstration flight test results. RASAR is a modular, multi-band (L and X) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging sensor designed for self-contained, autonomous, real-time operation with mission flexibility to support a wide range of ISR needs within the size, weight and power constraints of Group III UASs. SAR waveforms are generated through direct digital synthesis enabling arbitrary waveform notching to enable operations in cluttered RF environments. RASAR is capable of simultaneous dual-channel receive to enable polarization based target discrimination. The sensor command and control and real-time image formation processing are designed to enable integration of RASAR into larger, multi-intelligence system of systems. The multi-intelligence architecture and a demonstration of real-time autonomous cross-cueing of a separate optical sensor will be presented.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas J. Walls, Michael L. Wilson, David Madsen, Chad Knight, Mark D. Jensen, Darin C. Partridge, and Mike Addario "Compact, autonomous, multi-mission synthetic aperture radar", Proc. SPIE 8714, Radar Sensor Technology XVII, 87140Y (31 May 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2018282

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