Applications of Radar Imaging to High Altitude Measurements

The program objective is to adapt radar imaging technology to meet test center measurement requirements at high altitudes and long ranges where current optics and radars are lacking. METRATEK is in a unique position to accomplish this effort because we have a proven reputation for establishing the state of the art in advanced radar imagine technology and we have already developed and proven the two critical technologies needed to start this effort. These are (1) our AIRSAR autofocus air-to-air synthetic aperture imaging technology (referred to as a "national treasure" by the Secretary of the Air Force), and (2) the Model 300 radar, an extremely wideband imaging radar which can be slaved to existing narrowband tracking radars. Phase I will characterize the problems to be solved and define specific performance requirements, and then determine how high-quality imaging can be exploited and upgraded to address test center needs. It will then specify upgrades to WSMR radar and data processing facilities, and define tests that we will conduct in Phase II to demonstrate these capabilities using an existing METRATEK autofocus imaging radar in concert with existing WSMR assets.