Processing & Control Station and Data Link for UAV Synthetic Aperture Radar

     This effort is evaluating the feasibility of offloading much of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) electronics and data storage from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles into a ground station that can use inexpensive COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) equipment to store and process the data. The term ``data link" is used in the broad context; as much as 80% of the major subsystems of the radar may be relocated to the ground station. The potential advantages of this approach include:

• reduction of  the volume, weight, and power that must be carried by the UAV;
• minimization of the cost of the equipment at risk if the UAV should crash;
• UAV SAR data can be processed in near-real time as it is received, and
• large data storage devices can be used to store all or portions of the raw and processed data.

      This program will greatly expand the payload-carrying capability of small UAV's that remain within line-of-sight of the ground station. It will make it possible to consider using low-cost UAV's and small aircraft for scientific research projects that up to now have required a much larger, more expensive aircraft. The ability to offload data storage and offer real-time strip-map processing is a major boon to providing affordable commercial SAR mapping and environmental assessment applications. This effort is funded by the Office of Naval Research.