Multi-Frequency Airborne Radar System for Aircraft Icing Avoidance

In this Phase I SBIR proposal, we describe an integrated airborne multi-frequency radar system for aircraft icing avoidance. The primary thrust of our research will be the development of designs for low-cost millimeter-wave radars suitable for detection of backscatter from liquid water clouds at ranges in excess of 10 km. Existing radars that have been used for these studies are expensive one-of-a-kind research instruments with designs that are unsuitable for general aviation, where cost will be a primary consideration. By working cooperatively with manufacturers of microwave and millimeter-wave subsystems, we plan to develop a suite of radars for airborne and icing detection that will reduce the cost by a factor of five or more for prototype systems, and by a factor of up to 100 for production units. Practical airborne icing potential detection cannot be achieved without a major cost reduction of millimeter-wave radar systems. By using solid-state transmitters, integrated or monolithic low-noise receivers and IF circuits, and novel antenna concepts, and advanced signal processing techniques, we are confident that low cost systems can be developed for both airborne and ground-based applications.