Design of a Synthetic Aperture Radar Instrument for a High-Altitude Platform

Kurzfassung

In the course of ever new challenges and at the same time new technological possibilities, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is developing a stratospheric aircraft called High-Altitude Platform α (HAP) in a joint project of 16 institutes. Such a HAP offers the possibility to be stationed almost permanently at an altitude between 15 km and 25 km for months. This allows permanent observation of a given region of interest for a variety of applications, especially in climate research and security. For this purpose, various remote sensing sensors must be developed for the specific environmental and boundary conditions on a HAP. In the basic configuration, these are the high-resolution optical camera (MACS) and the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system HAPSAR. In this paper, the HAPSAR instrument, which is currently under construction, is described. The basic concept with the different operation modes, the structural design as well as individual components will be explained in more detail.