SEMINAR REPORT ON

SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR SYSTEM

A report of the seminar work submitted in partial fulfillment of the

Requirements for the award of degree of

BACHELOR OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

Submitted by
SULFIKKAR J (190021094421)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Mrs. SHAFNA SHAKEER

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

MES COLLEGE ERATTUPETTA
(Affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University)
Erattupetta-686509
DECEMBER 2021
 MES COLLEGE ERATTUPETTA
(Affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar report entitled “SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR
SYSTEM” is a bonafide record of the seminar work done by SULFIKKAR J
(Reg.No:190021094421) in the partial fulfillment for the award of degree of bachelor of
computer application from mahatma Gandhi university for the year 2019-2022.

Head of the Department seminar guide

Mrs.SHAFNA
Mrs. ANETT JOSEPH
SHAKEER
Dept. of Computer science Dept. of Computer
science

Viva voice held on……

Internal Examiner External examiner

 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the seminar work entitle “SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR
SYSTEM” is an authenticated work carried out under the guidance of Mrs. SHAFNA
SHAKEER for the partial fulfillment of the award of the degree of BACHELOR OF
COMPUTER APPLICATION and this work has not been submitted for similar purpose
anywhere else expect to MES College Erattupetta, affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi
University.

Place: Erattupetta
Date: SULFIKKAR J
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I Thank the Almighty GOD for giving me the courage and confidence throughout my seminar
work. It is my pleasant duty to express my gratitude and thanks to Mrs. ANETT JOSEPH
Head of the department of computer science, for encouragement and support.

I am indebted to Mrs. SHAFNA SHAKEER my seminar guide, and all other staff members
for giving me constant support and help whenever I needed.
Finally, I extend thanks to my parents, and all my friends for contributing their never-ending
stream of aspiration with love and encouragement, which helped me to maintain the quality of
my work

SULFIKKAR J
INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION

When a disaster occurs it is very important to grasp the situation as soon as possible. But it is
very difficult to get the information from the ground because there are a lot of things, which
prevent us from getting such important data such as clouds and volcanic eruptions. While
using an optical sensor, large amount of data is shut out by such barriers. In such cases,
Synthetic Aperture Radar or SAR is a very useful means to collect data even if the
observation area is covered with obstacles or an observation is made at night at nighttime
because SAR uses microwaves and the sensor itself radiates these. The SAR sensor can be
installed in some satellite and the surface of the earth can be observed. The raw data collected
by SAR are severely unfocussed and considerable processing is required to generate a
focused image. The processing has traditionally been done on ground and a downlink with a
high data rate is required. This is a time consuming process as well. The high data rate of the
downlink can be reduced by using a SAR instrument with on-board processing.
2. ABSTRACT
The synthetic aperture radar principle has been discovered in the early 50th. Since then, a
rapid development took place all over the world and a couple of air- and space-borne systems
are operational today. Progress made in technology and digital signal processing lead to very
flexible systems useful for military and civilian applications. Radar has proved to be valuable
before, because of its day-and-night capability and the possibility to penetrate clouds and
rain. Optical instruments however had great advantages in the interpretation of depicted
objects. The great wavelength of radar signals limits the achievable resolution in cross range
direction of real aperture radar systems. Thus, imaging cannot be realized using static radar
systems1 . The idea of SAR was to transmit pulses and store the scene echoes along a
synthetic aperture (i.e. the path of the SAR sensor) and to combine the echoes afterwards by
the application of an appropriate focussing algorithm. The combination is carried out
coherently.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from satellites are used increasingly for earth
observation and particularly for studies and monitoring of the marine environment. It is data
from the European Space Agency’s ERS programme which has triggered this development.
Since 1991the ERS-1 and -2 satellites have provided the research community with large
amounts of SAR images with about 20 m resolution and in 100 km wide swaths. Norwegian
scientists who need SAR data are in a favourable position because Tromsø Satellite Station
has been built up to an excellent facility for downloading, processing and distribution of
SAR data in near real time. The station delivers SAR data for Northern Europe and large
parts of the Arctic. Through demonstration projects funded by the Norwegian Space Centre,
the European Commission and the European Space Agency it has been possible to identify a
number of applications for SAR within environmental research and monitoring. Through the
SAR strategy programme it has been possible to carry out basic research in some of these
applications, addressing surface waves, surface winds, waves, surface slicks, eddies fronts
and sea ice. The research tasks have been focused on algorithm development for SAR wind
retrieval in coastal and ice edge regions, studies of wave breaking by SAR, ocean fronts and
eddies, detection of oil spill and natural films, and investigations of sea ice processes and
phenomena. Field validation of results obtained with SAR data has been an important
element in the SAR strategy programme. Through the SAR strategy programme the Nansen
Center has built up its expertise to an international level in detection and monitoring ocean
and ice features by SAR. Spin-off effects have been projects supported by ESA, EU and oil
companies where SAR products and services have been used such as wind monitoring, oil
spill and slick monitoring, detection of natutral oil seeps, mapping of eddies and fronts and
operational ice monitoring. Further refinement of SAR algorithms, processing and
interpretation techniques, and integration with other types of remote sensing and field data
as well as numerical model results is required in order to produce viable products which can
be offered to potential users in a commercial or operational context.
3. TECHNIQUES
1. Identification or alert of unusual activity (which may include: employee
identification, law enforcement inquiries, other referrals, and transaction and
surveillance monitoring system output).
2. Managing alerts.
3. SAR decision making.
4. SAR completion and filing.
5. Monitoring and SAR filing on continuing activity.
These components are present in banks of all sizes. However, the structure and formality of
the components may very larger banks will typically have greater differentiation and
distinction between functions, and may devote entire departments to the completion of each
component. Smaller banks may use one or more employees to complete several tasks (e.g.,
review of monitoring reports, research activity, and completion of the actual SAR)
4. PROPOSED SYSTEM
Environmental monitoring, earth-resource mapping, and military systems require broad-area
imaging at high resolutions. Often, this imagery must be acquired at night or during
inclement weather—Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides such a capability. SAR
systems take advantage of the long-range propagation characteristics of radar signals and the
complex information processing capability of modern digital electronics to provide high
resolution imagery. SAR complements photographic and other optical imaging capabilities
because it is not limited by the time of day or atmospheric conditions and the unique
responses of terrain and cultural targets to radar frequencies.
SAR technology provides terrain structural information to geologists for mineral exploration,
oil spill boundaries on water to environmentalists, sea state and ice hazard maps to
navigators, and reconnaissance and targeting information to military and intelligence
operations. There are many other applications for this technology. Some of these, particularly
civilian, have not yet been adequately explored because lower cost electronics are just
beginning to make SAR technology economical for smaller scale uses.

How Does Synthetic Aperture Radar Work?

Synthetic aperture radar is a way of creating an image using radio waves. The radio waves
used in SAR typically range from approximately 3 cm up to a few meters in wavelength,
which is much longer than the wavelength of visible light, used in making optical images.
These wavelengths fall within the microwave part of the spectrum in the figure below.

Figure 1. Comparison of wavelength, frequency, and energy for the electromagnetic

spectrum. (Credit: NASA’s Imagine the Universe)
RADAR is an acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging. Radar is an active system, which
generates its own radio waves and transmits them from its antenna, toward a target.
Depending on the target properties and the imaging geometry, the radar antenna will receive
all, some, or none of the radio wave’s energy (this is the Detection part of RADAR). This
received signal will travel for an amount of time proportional to the target’s distance from the
antenna (this is the Ranging part of RADAR).

Figure 2. Imaging Radar Geometry (Credit: NASA)

SAR(synthetic aperture radar)
To mitigate the undesired effects of real aperture radar’s poor azimuth resolution, the motion
of the antenna along the azimuthal direction is utilized to “synthetize” or give the effect of a
long antenna as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Synthetic Aperture Generation (Credit: NASA)

SAR Image Interpretation
While the images created by SAR can be rendered into a recognizable terrain map, there are
important differences between optical imagery and SAR imagery. SAR imagery is considered
a non-literal imagery type because it does not look like an optical image which is generally
intuitive to humans. These aspects must be understood for accurate image interpretation to be
performed.
Shadowing
Shadowing is caused for the same reasons that shadows are formed in optical imagery: an
object blocks the path of direct radiation—visible light in the case of optical imaging and the
radar beam in the case of SAR. However, unlike optical imagery in which objects in shadows
can be seen due to atmospheric scattering, there is no information in a SAR shadow because
there is no return signal.
Foreshortening
Because SAR is a side-looking, ranging instrument, the backscattered returns will be
arranged in the image based on how far the target is from the antenna along the slant plane
(radar-image plane). This causes some interesting geometrical distortions in the imagery,
such as foreshortening. As seen in Figure 4, the slope A-B is compressed in the slant plane
because the radar signal reaches point B shortly after reaching point A in time. This causes a
tall object with a slope, such as a mountain, to appear steeper, with a thin bright “edge”
appearance. Note that the sensor’s look angle affects foreshortening; a larger look angle will
decrease the effect.

Figure 4. Foreshortening Geometry (Credit: NASA) Figure 5. Layover Geometry (Credit: NASA)

Layover
Layover is an extreme example of foreshortening where the object is so tall that the radar
signal reaches point B before it reaches point A. This causes the returns from point B to be
placed on the image closer to the sensor (near range) and obscure point A, as if the top has
been overlaid on the foot of the mountain.
Figure 6. Examples of Geometric Effects in SAR Imagery (Image Credit: ERS, ESA 2011.
Retrieved from ASF DAAC 20 January 2020.
The effects of these phenomena are altered depending on the sensor’s look angle. A larger
look angle increases the effect of shadows (lengthening the shadow), while minimizing the
effect of layover (less layover). A smaller look angle has the opposite effect. Figure 6 gives
examples of these effects on rugged terrain. Figure 7, meanwhile, shows an example of how
buildings in an urban setting are distorted by the same effects. All tall buildings appear laid
out horizontally because of layover.
SAR System
Main parts of a SAR system are depicted in Figure 5. A pulse generation unit creates pulses
with a bandwidth according to the aspired range resolution. They will be amplified by the
sender and are transferred to the antenna via a circulator. The receiver gets the antenna output
signal (echoes of the scene) amplifies them to an appropriate level and applies a bandpass
filter. After the demodulation and A/D conversion of the signals the SAR processor starts to
calculate the SAR image. Additional motion information will be provided by a motion
measurement system. A radar control unit arranges the operation sequence, particularly the
time schedule.
Typical operation
In a typical SAR application, a single radar antenna is attached to an aircraft or spacecraft
such that a substantial component of the antenna's radiated beam has a wave-propagation
direction perpendicular to the flight-path direction. The beam is allowed to be broad in the
vertical direction so it will illuminate the terrain from nearly beneath the aircraft out toward
the horizon.

NASA's AirSAR instrument is attached to the side of a DC-8

Resolution in the range dimension of the image is accomplished by creating pulses which
define very short time intervals, either by emitting short pulses consisting of a carrier
frequency and the necessary sidebands, all within a certain bandwidth, or by using longer
"chirp pulses" in which frequency varies (often linearly) with time within that bandwidth.
The differing times at which echoes return allow points at different distances to be
distinguished.

SAR antenna of the SAOCOM satellites.

. Advantages of SAR
- Simpler design process
- Flexible to change the scanning scheme
-Simpler processing scheme for focusing (higher computation efficiency)
Disadvantages of SAR
-Limited data acquisition speed,
- Require larger number of scan position or antenna pairs
- Only suitable for stationary and slow moving target, less target coherence among collected
signals
- Collect only part of scattering matrix

Space-based radar
Active military radar satellites
 Indian RISAT
 American Lacrosse
 Russian Kondor
 Japanese Information Gathering Satellite
 German SAR-Lupe
 Chinese Huanjing

Earth-observing radar satellites include:

 RISAT-1 (SAR, ISRO India, 2012)
 RORSAT (SAR, Soviet Union, 1967-1988)
 Seasat (SAR, altimeter, scatterometer, US, 1978)
 RADARSAT-1 (SAR, Canadian, 1995)
 RADARSAT-2 (SAR, Canadian, 2007)
 SAR Lupe 1-5 (SAR satellites of the German Air Force)
 TerraSAR-X (SAR Germany, 2007)
 TanDEM-X (SAR Germany, 2010)
 COSMO-SkyMed (SAR, Italy, 2007)
 SAOCOM (L band SAR constellation, Argentina)
Areas of Applications
Military Applications
It has 3 major applications in the Military:
 In air defense, it is used for target detection, target recognition, and weapon
control (directing the weapon to the tracked targets).
 In a missile system to guide the weapon.
 Identifying enemy locations on the map.
Air Traffic Control
It has 3 major applications in Air Traffic control:
 To control air traffic near airports. The Air Surveillance RADAR is used to
detect and display the aircraft’s position in the airport terminals.
 To guide the aircraft to land in bad weather using Precision Approach
RADAR.
 To scan the airport surface for aircraft and ground vehicle positions
Remote Sensing
It can be used for observing whether or observing planetary positions and
monitoring sea ice to ensure a smooth route for ships.
Ground Traffic Control
It can also be used by traffic police to determine the speed of the vehicle,
controlling the movement of vehicles by giving warnings about the presence of
other vehicles or any other obstacles behind them.
Space
It has 4 major applications
 To guide the space vehicle for a safe landing on the moon
 To observe the planetary systems
 To detect and track satellites
 To monitor the meteors
 FUTURE
IMPLEMENTATION
5. Future Implementation
The future will see a major increase in the utilization of spaceborne imaging radars in earth
sciences and applications. ERS-1 and ERS-2 as well as RADARSAT will provide extensive
amounts of coverage and large scale monitoring. Imaging radars have been used for geologic
mapping of planetary surfaces, mapping of surface morphologic texture and roughness,
mapping or the polar ice cover and ocean surface features, and monitoring of land use
changes. Future potential applications will capitalize on the ability of the radar signal to sense
volumetric information and to measure surface moisture. Three new techniques have the
potential for major advances in the field of spaceborne radar remote sensing: radar
polarimetry, radar interferometry, and bistatic imaging. The power of the radar data will be
significantly enhanced when the advanced capabilities using these three techniques become
widely available and when the synergism of visible infrared and microwave system is fully
exploited
CONCLUSION
6. Conclusion
The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an all-weather imaging tool that achieves fine along-
trackresolution by taking the advantage of radar motion to synthesize a large antenna
aperture. SAR technology has provided terrain structural information to geologists for
mineral exploration, oil spill boundaries on water to environmentalists, sea state and ice
hazard maps to navigators, and reconnaissance and targeting information to military
operations. There are many other applications or potential applications. This paper serves as
a basic study of SAR. The principle of SAR is described and basic SAR signal processing
concept is discussed. Besides the overview of design consideration for SAR system is also
highlighte
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Acknowledgment
It is my privilege to acknowledge with deep sense of gratitude to my guide Mrs.Veena Mol
KV for her kind help and Co-operation. I am highly obliged to the entire staff of the
Computer science department for their kind co-operation and help. I also take this
opportunity to thanks my colleague, who backed our interest by giving useful suggestions
and all possible help.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
7. Bibligrophy
 Synthetic-aperture radar - Wikipedia
 Synthetic Aperture Radar - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
 https://eaíthdata.nasa.gov/leaín/backgíoundeís/what-is-saí
 íeseaíchgate.net/publication/246836455_Synthetic_Apeítuíe_Radaí
 P. Berens, Neue Signalverarbeitungsverfahren für SAR im Scheinwerfermodus,
Shaker Verlag, Aachen, 2003
 W. G. Carrara, R. S. Goodman and R. M. Majewski, Spotlight Sysnthetic
Aperture Radar: Signal Processing Algorithms, Artech House, Norwood, MA,
1995
 J. C. Curlander and R. N. McDonough, Synthetic Aperture Radar: Systems and
Signal Processing, Wiley-Interscience:Series in Remote Sensing, New York, 1991.