Abstract: The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has been investigating the potential of ultra-wideband synthetic aperture radar (UWB SAR) technology to detect and classify targets concealed by subsurface targets and foliage. Our investigative approach is to collect high-quality precision data to support phenomenological investigations of electromagnetic wave propagation through dielectric media. These investigations, in turn, support the development of algorithms for automatic target recognition. In order to achieve these goals, ARL designed and built an impulse (very short pulse) radar to collect data at a variety of test sites to measure and analyze the responses from targets, clutter, and targets embedded in clutter. The UWB BoomSAR, mounted on a 150-foot-high mobile boom lift, collects the high-quality, precision data sets needed for understanding UWB SAR system requirements and foliage penetration and ground penetration phenomenology. The BoomSAR operates with over 1 gigahertz of bandwidth covering a spectrum from 40 MHz to 1 GHz and is fully polarimetric. This bandwidth contains low frequencies needed for ground penetration while also maintaining higher frequency coverage for high resolution imagery. This paper shows a GPEN target area from data collected at Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ in low- and high- frequency subbands.!7
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