<title>Ultrawideband VHF SAR design and measurements</title>

Abstract

CARABAS, an acronym for `coherent all radio band sensing,' is an airborne, horizontal-polarization SAR operating across the frequency band 20 to 90 MHz, conceived, designed and built by FOA in Sweden. The original motivation for designing such a low frequency system was that a large relative or fractional bandwidth could be achieved at low frequencies. For reasons to be explained, a large fractional bandwidth was considered to be of potential benefit for radar detection in severe clutter environments. A feasibility study of a short wave ultra-wideband radar started at FOA in 1985. Actual construction of the CARABAS system commenced 1987, aircraft integration took place during 1991 and the first radar tests were conducted in early 1992. From the fall of 1992 onwards, field campaigns and evaluation studies have been conducted as a joint effort between FOA and MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the US. This article will focus on experiences concerning foliage penetration with the system. First we touch upon the CARABAS system characteristics, outline the arguments behind a large fractional bandwidth VHF-band SAR approach to foliage penetration, and finally present some early experimental results. We refer to other papers for a fuller explanation of the system, for more details of image calibration, and for results concerning underground imaging.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.