Drone With Integrated Moving Baseline System and Time Domain Autofocus Algorithm for High Resolution SAR Images

The demand for drone-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems is growing, especially for applications in cases where satellites or airborne systems are not sufficiently flexible. However, the combination of a long operating range and high spatial resolution causes the atmosphere to pose challeng...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of selected topics in applied earth observations and remote sensing 2024-01, Vol.17, p.1-13
Main Authors: Brotzer, Peter, Henke, Daniel, Small, David, Casalini, Emiliano, Guillaume, Sebastien, Vogt, Rolf, Dominguez, Elias Mendez
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Airborne radar
Algorithms
Autofocus
Azimuth
drone
Drones
frequency -modulated continuous-wave (FMCW)
High resolution
Image resolution
K-band
Laser radar
Radar
Radar antennas
SAR (radar)
Spatial discrimination
Spatial resolution
Synthetic aperture radar
synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
uncrewed aerial vehicle
uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV)
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Summary:The demand for drone-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems is growing, especially for applications in cases where satellites or airborne systems are not sufficiently flexible. However, the combination of a long operating range and high spatial resolution causes the atmosphere to pose challenges for these systems. In this paper we present our K-band drone system that has a long range sensibility through modification to a commercially available radar. In addition, a moving baseline configuration has been integrated to ensure accurate attitude data, especially the heading. The desired spatial resolution is achieved by our proposed autofocus algorithm based on image sharpness. It is designed to also work in challenging cases of non-linear flight paths, and can be integrated into a processing framework based on back-projection. Several experiments were conducted to demonstrate the drone system's capabilities. These included a comparison with an established airborne radar: MIRANDA35. The obtained results demonstrate the ability of the drone SAR system to map wide areas at high spatial resolution.
ISSN:1939-1404
2151-1535
DOI:10.1109/JSTARS.2023.3345954