The evolution of exquisitely sensitive Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems is positioning this technology for use in time-critical environments, such as search-and-rescue missions and improvised explosive device (IED) detection. SAR systems should be playing a keystone role in the United States’ Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance activities. Yet many in the SAR community see missed opportunities for incorporating SAR into existing remote sensing data collection and analysis challenges. Drawing on several years' of field research with SAR engineering and operational teams, this paper examines the human and organizational factors that mitigate against the adoption and use of SAR for tactical ISR and operational support. We suggest that SAR has a design problem, and that context-sensitive, human and organizational design frameworks are required if the community is to realize SAR's tactical potential.

Date Published: 12 May 2016
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 9829, Radar Sensor Technology XX, 982906 (12 May 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2225273

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9829:
Radar Sensor Technology XX
Kenneth I. Ranney; Armin Doerry, Editor(s)