Multi-channel ultra-wideband radar sounder and imager

In this paper, we present the development of a multi-channel VHF/UHF ultra-wideband airborne radar sounder and imager for measurements of polar ice sheets. The radar was developed at the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) for operation onboard the German Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Basler BT-67 aircraft. The system operates from 150 to 600 MHz corresponding to a vertical resolution of 33 cm in free space. The radar is equipped with three 4-m long 8-element antenna subarrays installed under the fuselage and both wings to support 8 transmit and 24 receive channels. The radar waveform from each transmit channel can be configured individually to enable real-time transmit beamforming for wide-swath ice bed imaging of up to 10 km wide. The radar system was deployed to Greenland in the spring of 2016 as a part of the joint AWI/CReSIS test campaign to conduct measurements over glaciers. Sample radar data from this field campaign are presented to illustrate the capability of the radar.