SAR imagery is acquired manually. A measuring tape
supplied with the radar kit is deployed in a straight line.
The student lines up the radar’s edge with the start of the
tape. A toggle switch in-line with the left channel mutes the
synchronization pulses. The student starts a .wav recording
program, moves the radar into position, un-mutes the synchronization
pulses for 1-2s, mutes them, moves the radar
5.08 cm (2 inches), then un-mutes the synchronization pulses,
and the process repeats over an aperture length of at least 2.4
m (8 feet) (Fig. 9). A MATLAB script looks for groups of
synchronization pulses in the left channel and assumes that
each group represents another 5.08 cm of radar displacement
(Fig. 10). The MATLAB script further parses each individual
pulse within the group and coherently integrates them resulting
in a range profile for every 5.08 cm increment along a linear
path. These data are fed into an S-band Range Migration
SAR imaging algorithm [6]. Although somewhat coarse, SAR
imagery of terrain lines up well with ground truth (Fig. 11)