BYU micro-SAR: A very small, low-power LFM-CW Synthetic Aperture Radar

BYU MICRO-SAR: A VERY SMALL, LOW-POWER LFM-CW SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR Michael I. Duersch Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Science Brigham Young University has developed a low-cost, light-weight, and low power consumption SAR for flight on a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at low altitudes. This micro-SAR, or μSAR, consumes only 18 watts of power, ideal for application on a small UAV. To meet these constraints, a linear frequency modulationcontinuous wave (LFM-CW) transmit signal is utilized. Use of an LFM-CW signal introduces some differences from the typical strip map SAR processing model that must be addressed in signal processing algorithms. This thesis presents a derivation of the LFM-CW signal model and the associated image processing algorithms used for the μSAR developed at BYU. A data simulator for the BYU LFM-CW SAR is detailed and results are provided for the case when the simulated data are processed using the μSAR algorithms. Data processing schemes are discussed, including compression, receive signal phase detection, interference filtering and auto-focusing. Finally, data collected from the instrument itself are processed and presented.