Small-UAV radar imaging for cultural heritage inspections: results from multiple measurements lines

摘要

This paper deals with an innovative Small U A V radar imaging system prototype developed for cultural heritage inspection. The UAV based radar system is characterized by three main features: 1) the system, which has been realized by using low-cost commercial electronic components; 2) the UAV positioning information, which are achieved by implementing Carrier-phase Differential Global Positioning System (CDGPS) technique, and 3) the imaging strategy, named Multilines Imaging Approach (MIA), which exploits data collected on multiple parallel lines to provide a 3D radar image of the investigated scene. The imaging system capabilities have been validated against real data collected at Archaeological Park of Paestum and Velia by investigating an area of hundred square meters. The achieved results demonstrated its effectiveness.