Publications

Antarctica X-band MiniSAR crevasse detection radar : final report

Sander, Grant J.; Bickel, Douglas L.

This document is the final report for the Antarctica Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Project. The project involved the modification of a Sandia National Laboratories MiniSAR system to operate at X-band in order to assess the feasibility of an airborne radar to detect crevasses in Antarctica. This radar successfully detected known crevasses at various geometries. The best results were obtained for synthetic aperture radar resolutions of at most one foot and finer. In addition to the main goal of detecting crevasses, the radar was used to assess conops for a future operational radar. The radar scanned large areas to identify potential safe landing zones. In addition, the radar was used to investigate looking at objects on the surface and below the surface of the ice. This document includes discussion of the hardware development, system capabilities, and results from data collections in Antarctica.