VHF/UHF Endo-Clutter SAR Fiducial Marker

In this Phase II project, Mission Research Corporation (MRC) will develop a prototype SAR fiducial marker that can be deployed in foliated areas to facilitate registration of VHF and UHF SAR images. These devices are capable of supporting simultaneous VHFand UHF imaging with robust aspect angle and polarization diversity. Existing technologies and devices that include both active and passive targets fall short of present needs. Passive targets at these frequencies are large and cumbersome to move throughfoliage and have a relatively lower RCS and little polarization diversity. Active devices at these frequencies suffer from self-resonance feedback and can not be made with complete 360 deg. azimuth coverage. The proposed device makes use of spread spectrumcoding and provides a high degree of location accuracy with little modification to the radar hardware. Additionally, the final stage of prototyping will result in a device about the size of a small briefcase that can easily be placed in a scene. Thetransmitted output of the marker device is coherent to the radar system and appears in the raw phase history data and in focused imagery as an ideal point target.