The UAV radar imaging prototype developed in the frame of the VESTA project

This work presents an UA V based radar imaging prototype designed in the frame of the VESTA project, an Italian regional project funded in the frame of the POR Campania FESR 2014/2020 program. The key elements of the prototype can be summarized as follows: 1) a radar payload, which is designed according to the payload constrains due to the use of a small UA V platform and is realized by using hardware components available on the market; 2) a Carrier based Differential Global Positioning system, which is used to track the UA V trajectory with a centimetric accuracy; 3) an ad hoc designed data processing strategy based on a microwave tomographic approach enhanced by a motion compensation procedure, capable of providing high resolution images in the vertical image domain, i.e., the plane defined by the along-track and the nadir directions. The effectiveness of the prototype is assessed thanks to an experimental test regarding targets of different size and electromagnetic properties.