A synthetic aperture acoustic prototype system

A novel quasi-monostatic system operating in a side-scan synthetic aperture acoustic (SAA) imaging mode is presented. This research project's objectives are to explore the military utility of outdoor continuous sound imaging of roadside foliage and target detection. The acoustic imaging method has several military relevant advantages such as being immune to RF jamming, superior spatial resolution as compared to 0.8-2.4 GHz ground penetrating radar (GPR), capable of standoff side and forward-looking scanning, and relatively low cost, weight and size when compared to GPR technologies. The prototype system's broadband 2-17 kHz LFM chirp transceiver is mounted on a manned all-terrain vehicle. Targets are positioned within the acoustic main beam at slant ranges of two to seven meters and on surfaces such as dirt, grass, gravel and weathered asphalt and with an intervening metallic chain link fence. Acoustic image reconstructions and signature plots result in means for literal interpretation and quantifiable analyses.