PASSIVE MICROWAVE IMAGING THROUGH SMOKE AND OBSCURANTS

WE REQUEST FUNDS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AIMED AT IMPROVING TECHNIQUES TO PENETRATE SMOKE AND THE ATMOSPHERE USING AND ADVANCED PASSIVE MICROWAVE/MILLIMETER WAVE CONCEPT DEVELOPED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS. THIS TECHNIQUE, REFERRED TO AS APERTURE SYNTHESIS OR SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADIOMETRY, IS A NEW EARTH REMOTE MEANS TO DEVELOP SPATIAL RESOULTIONS AND WIDE SWATH WITH THINNED ARRAY ANTENNAS. THE INTENT OF THIS STUDY IS TO INCREASE THE OPERATING FREQUENCY BEYOND THE L-BAND FREQUENCY USED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AND TO INCREASE THE CAPABILITY OF THE SYSTEMS; I.E., FINER RESOLUTION AND MORE BEAMS. THE PHASE I STUDY WILL DEVELOP PROOF OF CONCEPT OF A FEW CANDIDATE SYSTEMS. PRELIMINARY DESIGN WILL BE DONE TO ACTUALLY FABRICATE A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM FOR INDEPENDENT TEST BY THE AIR FORCE.