Drone-Based Passive SAR With DVB-T Transmissions

This study investigates the potential of a dronebased passive Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system using Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcast (DVB-T) transmitters of opportunity. To reduce payload complexity and weight, the onboard radar system uses a single-channel receiver. In addition, an image formation algorithm is derived. Its difference compared to conventional approaches is that it is capable of both forming passive SAR images of extended target areas and removing direct signal artefacts in the image at both short (where drone-based systems are more likely to operate) and long ranges by using modified CLEAN and sub-aperture based minimum pixel selection techniques. The validity of the proposed imaging algorithm is tested through a real-world experiment with a drone-based demonstrator.