Millimeter-wave radar for brown-out landings using passive imager components

Christopher A. Martin; Vladimir Kolinko; John A. Lovberg

doi:10.1117/12.852596

27 April 2010 Millimeter-wave radar for brown-out landings using passive imager components

Christopher A. Martin, Vladimir Kolinko, John A. Lovberg

Proceedings Volume 7670, Passive Millimeter-Wave Imaging Technology XIII; 767007 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.852596
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2010, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

A millimeter-wave radar designed for landing helicopters in brown-out conditions is described and data is presented from an initial flight test. The radar operates in a frequency modulated continuous wave architecture, determining range to target by calculating the difference between transmitted and returned frequencies. The millimeter-wave frequency band provides sand and dust penetration and allows for small apertures appropriate for helicopter mounting. This radar also uses a flat panel phased-array receive antenna and phase processor to sample multiple antenna beams simultaneously, an architecture that has previously been successfully used in passive millimeter-wave imaging systems. The radar presents a wide field-of-view image to the operator at a 3 Hz frame rate where range to the ground and obstacles is depicted in grayscale. The flight test showed the radar to be capable of depicting terrain height variations and obstacles such as buildings, vehicles, building materials, and even power lines. Reductions in noise and symbology improvements are necessary developments for a viable landing system.

Citation Download Citation

Christopher A. Martin, Vladimir Kolinko, and John A. Lovberg "Millimeter-wave radar for brown-out landings using passive imager components", Proc. SPIE 7670, Passive Millimeter-Wave Imaging Technology XIII, 767007 (27 April 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.852596

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