Near-Real-Time CCD for Intelligence Gathering via Airborne Radar

In order to maintain a strategic advantage over enemy forces, the Army needs to have a detailed understanding and a high level of Situational Awareness (SA) of the areas in which it operates. All-weather, day-or-night understanding and SA can be provided by IMSAR’s existing, low-Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) radar systems, which provide capabilities such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging, Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), Ground and Maritime Moving Target Indication (GMTI/MMTI), and Coherent Change Detection (CCD). Although some of these modes, such as MTI, are designed to provide the end user with real-time feedback on current activities within areas of interest, other modes, such as CCD, are generally used to show historical changes that have occurred in the area of interest. This historical information is useful for applications such as route clearance or Counter- Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) missions because the data can show whether an IED or mine has recently been placed, but it is less helpful for seeing changes occurring in an area of interest in near real time. IMSAR proposes to develop a Video CCD mode for its radar systems that would allow the user to see changes in an area in near real time.