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Sandia National
Laboratories has designed, assembled and delivered many different synthetic
aperture radar systems and components to a wide variety of customers.
A few of the unclassified programs Sandia has participated in are listed
below:
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Miniaturized Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR)
-- At any
size/weight, the image quality and resolution demonstrated by Sandia
SARs remains unequaled. MiniSAR fills a void in current remote
sensing technology by providing unprecedented image quality and
resolution while achieving a 4 to 5x reduction in size, weight and
cost. MiniSAR will give even small UAVs the ability to see through
smoke, dust, clouds, and heavy rain. Similarly, the miniSAR sensor
will have broad application to all-weather, precision guided
weapons. MiniSAR is an in-development program; the initial version
will be flight tested in early 2005. |
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SAR Target
Recognition and Location System (STARLOS) -- Real-time synthetic
aperture radar image-formation and automatic target recognition
of multiple and simultaneous targets; sponsored by the United States
Army. |
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Airborne
Multisensor Pod System (AMPS) -- Real-time high resolution 3-D
synthetic aperture radar imagery for nonproliferation R&D; sponsored
by the Department of Energy Office of Research and Development. |
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SAR for
Open Skies (SAROS) -- Sponsored by DTRA to develop exportable,
treaty-compliant (3-m resolution) SAR for Open Skies. Sandia developed
the digital pre-processor to limit resolution, digital recording
system, motion compensation software, radar control software and
system integration. Two operational systems were delivered, plus
one spare. |
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APS-137
B(V)5 -- United States Navy program to upgrade existing APS-137
radars on P-3 (and potentially S-3) aircraft to add high-resolution
synthetic aperture radar. Contracted by Raytheon, Sandia developed
the SAR system design, algorithms and software (motion measurement,
SAR control and SAR image formation). Software was designed to Mil
Std 498 and Sandia Preferred Processes for COTS Mercury i860 parallel
processors. |
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Tier II+
-- DARPA-funded program to develop a High Altitude Endurance UAV
with real-time SAR and MTI capabilities. Sandia National
Laboratories was contracted by Raytheon to develop the SAR receiver,
exciter, and direct digital synthesizer. |
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Moving
and Stationary Target Acquisition & Recognition (MSTAR)
-- Sandia National Laboratories collected a large data set of SAR
target images for ATR algorithm development and other uses; sponsored
by DARPA. For more information, please visit http://www.mbvlab.wpafb.af.mil/projects.html
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Lynx®
SAR -- Designed and developed by Sandia National Laboratories
for General Atomics, including the delivery of two operational prototypes.
This radar provides unmatched performance for reconnaissance and
surveillance in adverse weather conditions. The system is light
enough to fit into small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The sensor
offers one-foot to ten-foot resolution stripmap capability and spotlight
resolutions of four inches to ten feet. Depending on weather conditions
and imaging resolution, the sensor can operate at a maximum range
of 25 to 85 kilometers. In addition to SAR, the Lynx® radar includes GMTI and near-real-time coherent change detection capability. The
radar is packaged in two subassemblies weighing less than 50 kg. |
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Rapid
Terrain Visualization (RTV) -- Designed and developed by
Sandia National Laboratories for for the Joint Precision Demonstration
Project Office of the United States Army (Intelligence, Electronic
Warfare & Sensors PEO). This radar provides the ability to generate
highly accurate map products in real-time, including digital elevation
models (DEMs), orthorectified SAR images, as well as a measure of
the data quality. The DEMs can be produced according to the draft
standards for DTED Level III or DTED Level IV, though RTV's accuracies
exceed those standards. The system is capable of an absolute height
accuracy of 1-meter LE90 (90% of the data within the map is within
3 feet of its true position), and the absolute ground position accuracy
is 2-meters CE90 (90% of the data within the map are within a 6-foot
radius circle in north/east of their true position). |
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Lynx®
is a registered trademark of the General Atomics corporation.
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Contact:
To send feedback
or request information about the contents of Sandia National Laboratories'
synthetic aperture radar website, please contact:
Matthew R. Lopez, Business Project Lead
Synthetic Aperture Radar Website Owner
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0519
(505) 845-2019 (Phone)
(505) 844-5924 (Fax)
matlope@sandia.gov |
