Precise Scatter Estimation of Complex Bridges with Portable MMW SAR

Radar is widely accepted as an advanced displacement measuring sensor. However dynamic displacement measuring radar has limited azimuth resolution, even if it adopts the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) architecture. A potable millimeter-wave (MMW) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is proposed to improve the azimuth resolution. The system is composed of a TI AWR2243BOOST radar front end, a TI DCAIOOOEVM card, and a slider. Dedicated system control and signal processing software are developed. Experiment results show that the radar can achieve range and azimuth angler resolution of 0.063 m and 0.22°, respectively. It can establish precise correspondence between a peak of the radar image and the measuring location of the bridge up to 200 m. The portable MMW SAR can be extended to other applications that require high-resolution imaging ability.