Comparison of P/L Band Digital Array SAR for the Foliage/Sands Subsurface Penetration Detection

Digital Array SAR is the current state of the art SAR technology, A dual P/L band digital array SAR prototype system are developed and airborne fly test are proceeded. This paper compares P band and L band for FOPEN/sand subsurface observe application. To address these issues, a 3000m3 dry sand dune were built up to 3m high and buried with targets near the Yellow River in Hancheng city, Shanxi Province. Tens of vehicle targets were placed in the forest close with the dune region. Data collected and analyzed to acquire foliage/sands penetration losses at P and L band, the image and data indicate P band can penetrate sand 3m while L band less than 1m under 1% water content, the FOPEN image shows scatter characters are different between P and L band, P band FOPEN losses more less than L band and can detect targets more clearly.