Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHREUSAR 2018
International conference on radar imaging commences in Aachen with 500 scientists
Radar images of the Earth from the air or space or images of objects in space offer unique advantages: high-resolution images can be created at a distance of hundreds of kilometers – irrespective of weather and light conditions. These include, for example, detailed maps of the Earth's surface for cartography or precise images of satellites such as those recently created during the re-entry of the Chinese space station Tiangong-1. 500 experts will meet this week to exchange scientific knowledge at EUSAR (European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar) in Aachen.
What are the latest developments and applications in the area of radar imaging? 500 scientists from 33 countries will answer this question at the 12th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar which takes place this week in Aachen. The conference, which is held every two years, is organized by the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) and receives scientific support from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the German Aerospace Center, Airbus and Hensoldt. This year the conference will be chaired by Dr. Andreas Brenner, Head of Department at Fraunhofer FHR.
With over 250 contributions in 50 sessions, the conference will cover the entire spectrum of radar imaging. Particularly worthy of mention in this respect are the contributions of leading researchers from the USA on the 5th of June: Dr. Paul Rosen (NASA JPL) will present the latest technologies and results for satellite-supported Earth observation and Dr. Joseph Usoff (MIT Lincoln Laboratory) will demonstrate the capabilities of the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR), which - together with TIRA, the high power radar system of Fraunhofer FHR - is one of the world's most powerful radar systems in the area of space observation. Radar is the only sensor that can detect tiny particles of space debris from Earth and create high-resolution images of space objects such as those recently supplied during the re-entry of the Chinese space station Tiangong-1. Researchers from Fraunhofer FHR will also contribute to this theme.
European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (EUSAR)
The EUSAR Conference takes place from 4th - 7th June in EUROGRESS, Aachen. 500 scientists from 33 countries will exchange information on the latest developments in radar imaging in the course of over 250 contributions.
What is synthetic aperture radar (SAR)?
"SAR" – this abbreviation stands for "synthetic aperture radar", an imaging radar technique that can supply images of the Earth's surface from large distances in photo quality irrespective of cloud cover and the time of day. This is possible due to an enormous "fictitious antenna" which is virtually spanned by aircraft or satellites flying in the sky and a complex technique whereby the Earth's surface is scanned with the help of echoes from microwave pulses and the supplied data is subsequently transformed into synthetic images.
This technique can also be used inversely: when the image is moving and the radar in stationary (e.g. during space observation) it functions in a similar manner and provides detailed images.