Electrically scanned slope monitoring radar with antenna switching

A slope monitoring radar system is developed, which can achieve both high range resolution and high azimuth resolution. The system uses stepped-frequency wideband waveform and consists of one transmitter and two receivers. Its antenna system uses SAR principle to achieve good angular resolution while at the same time avoids using moving parts. The azimuthal beam scanning is realized by switching between four transmitting antennas and eight receiving antennas, which can significantly reduce the number of antennas and receivers needed to achieve the same azimuth resolution. Simulations and field experimental results show that the system can achieve an accuracy of submillimeter, which can meet the demand in slope monitoring.