YSAR: a compact, low-cost synthetic aperture radar

The Brigham Young University Synthetic Aperture Radar (YSAR) is a compact, inexpensive SAR system which can be flown on a small aircraft. The system has exhibited a resolution of approximately 0.8 m by 0.8 m in test flights in calm conditions. YSAR was used to collect data over archeological sites in Israel. Using a relatively low frequency (2.1 GHz), the authors hope to be able to identify walls or other archeological features to assist in excavation. A large data set of radar and photographic data were collected over sites at Tel Safi, Qumran, Tel Micnah, and the Zippori National Forest in Israel. The authors show sample images from the archeological data. They are currently working on improved autofocus algorithms for this data and are developing a small, low-cost interferometric SAR system (YINSAR) for operation from a small aircraft