Radar & Remote Sensing

Remote sensing using radar technologies is a constantly evolving field of work. The possibilities offered by radar devices are still to be explored. Their applications can be seen in fields as diverse as meteorology, security, definition of foods, of soils and a long etcetera. This is one of the most important areas at atlanTTic. The patents registered in this area are proof of the quality of the results obtained.

In the last two decades, meteorological agencies in developed countries have implemented Doppler radar networks for the detection and monitoring of meteorological phenomena. These radars are able to locate precipitation, measure trajectories and estimate the type of rainfall and quantity. Within the meteo radars, there are a type called polarimetric radars. These can emit waves with different polarization, introducing more information to contrast data. The success and benefits (early warning of storms and tornados, prediction of floods, control of hydrographic resources, etc.) derived from the operation of these radar networks has led to their expansion and constant update.

In other areas, such as security in public places, the growing threat of terrorism, surveillance of people at security checkpoints such as airports and bus and train stations is increasingly important. Millimeter wave systems, generally in the 30 to 300 GHz band, are the most promising solutions because millimeter waves are non-ionizing and, therefore, pose no known health hazards at moderate power levels. Millimeter wave scanners offer a solution to this technological demand, due to its good compromise between the resolution of the image obtained, their ability to penetrate through tissues and other materials, the use of non-ionizing radiation, and their relatively low cost.

 

Research topics

• Polarimetric Doppler Measurement System
  Measurement system providing all polarimetric and Doppler information. The transmitter consists of two transmission channels with different polarization and two reception channels. The data processing provides unbiased estimators of the polarimetric covariance matrix without reducing the radar Doppler capability.
• UAV Landing System Assisted by Satellite Navigation Systems
  Passive radar systems. They are radar systems that are based on the opportunistic use of the signals emitted by other telecommunications systems. They detect the targets and determine their position and other characteristics by receiving and processing the signal that the targets bounce when they are illuminated by the signals emitted by other radio systems.
• Airborne systems and methods for detecting, locating and obtaining images of buried objects and characterizing the composition of the subsoil
  GEODRON is a novel system for the non-destructive evaluation, identification and detection of objects buried in the ground, mainly for the purpose of detecting explosives, such as antipersonnel mines, but useful for any other application that may be required. The detection of objects not identifiable with the naked eye.
• Dynamic threat identification in security controls based on millimeter-wave technology
  The millimeter-wave scanners provide a solution to the demand for greater security at airports, due to their good compromise between resolution of the image obtained, ability to penetrate through tissues and other materials, use of non-ionizing radiation, and relatively low cost. Also, the different behavior of millimeter waves when interacting with different materials can help their identification by the exploration system. The project focuses on the development of a new system for the inspection of persons.
• New generation scanning reflecting antennas in millimeter detection systems for the reconstruction of moving images in security applications
  As a result of previous projects, a 300 GHz image radar prototype was built and satisfactorily validated, including a sophisticated bifocal reflecting antenna developed by the group. Based on this experience and given the importance of the topic, this proposal focuses on the development of a new system for the inspection of people improving the previous design.
• System of characterization of the radar signature of naval targets
• System of characterization of the radar signature of all type of targets
• Characterization, identification and / or non-destructive detection of materials and substances by THz spectrometry
• Sensor aided beam alignment at mmWave and vehicular applications
  One of the key challenges at mmWave is the overhead of beam training or channel estimation, required to establish the link. We have studied how to use out of band information provided by sensors or other communication systems to reduce beam configuration overhead. This idea is especially interesting in vehicular scenarios, where high mobility complicates the configuration of the system. An essential tool to exploit out of band information is the translation of channel information between different bands. We have also studied the integration of mmWave radar and communication in connected vehicles.
• Prototypes at mmWave
  We are prototyping a hybrid mmWave MIMO system with 2 RF chains, 2 at the rx and 2 at the rx, providing 1-GHz bandwidth at 60-GHz frequency band. For the BB prototype we are using a chassis-based platform by National Instruments, with an embedded controller, internal interconnection lines, and the following FPGA-cored modules: 2 modulation and DAC modules working at 1.25 GS/s, 2 ADC and demodulation modules working at 1.5 GS/s, 4 clock-management modules with compensated external reference, 2 encoding modules, 4 decoding modules and 1 MAC management module. In addition to standard algorithms needed for any basic mmWave SISO link, we are currently implementing our MIMO processing algorithms for channel estimation and hybrid precoding[3],[7].We are also implementing turbo and LDPC encoding/decoding.

 

Research groups

 

• Facilities
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