P-SAR: an advanced miniature synthetic aperture radar for forestry applications. Preliminary design

A preliminary study of the design of a small, low cost, P-band airborne, polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is presented. The design was requested by the Wageningen University and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) to carry out forest biomass monitoring in Indonesia. The requirements of the application are established and the main radar parameters are derived from them. A preliminary design of the system, based on commercial off-the-shelf components is also presented. Some novelties of the system are the use of direct digital synthesis (DDS) to perform the modulation, the use of dual-polarized microstrip square patch antennas and the reduced size and power consumption of the system.