VHF/UHF Endo-Clutter SAR Fiducial Marker

"Interpretations of a SAR image with respect to locating specific images in that image precisely relies upon having the location of a referenced object(s) accurately defined and identified in an image. The referenced object(s) should appear in the image asa point source or combination of point sources with no blooming or blurring. For purposes of this topic, any referenced object will be called a "fiducial marker". A wide field of regard and wide bandwidth is required due to the system requirement to collect data over multiple passes at unique aircraft altitudes and/or aircraft heading angles. Ultimately the design must lend itself to remote locations underadverse conditions. This places additional challenges to a portable fiducial marker that will have to contend with high foliage, varying terrain geometries, and long unattended operation. The proposed research is focused on a novel fiducial marker development and is expandable to meet the challenges of portability and remote operation. The major objective of the proposed Phase One and Phase Two efforts is the development and design of aninnovative, lightweight, deployable SAR Fiducial Marker and fabrication/testing of a prototype fiducial marker, respectively, for use in the registration of multiple SAR images. In the commercial sector, a fiducial marker may have application for remote sensing. The forestry service uses SAR in large aircraft to monitor areas for disease