Advanced SAR Techniques at VHF (88-108 MHz) for Mine and Unexploded Ordnance Detection

Airborne SAR systems currently exist and are used for wide-area surveillance and ground mapping. The majority of deployed systems have frequencies (400 MHz-30 GHz) which, in most cases, cannot penetrate the soil to the depth required for detection of buried mines and unexploded ordnance. Lower frequencies are required for penetration of the ground. However, in the lower parts of the frequency spectrum, the techniques and waveforms currently used to achieve SAR across-track range resolution, such as pulse compression or impulse waveforms, create major sources of wide-band interference to other systems when the radar is transmitting. Conversely, all other emitters operating in these crowded frequency bands cause significant levels of interference to the SAR radar receiver. Amelex proposes to investigate new SAR system components and waveforms to generate an RF signal with sufficiently low frequwency to penetrate the ground and with the ability to achieve the across-track resolution required while reducing the EMI on both transmit and receive.