Design and Implementation of an SFCW Radar Platform for Environmental Monitoring
(2026) NDT — Vol. 4, n° 1, p. 6 (2026)
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- Authors
Mulders, Jarne Van 
Vandenbroucke, Jaron Cox, Bert Strycker, Lieven De
- Abstract
- Current satellite-based active microwave observations lack the temporal resolution needed to accurately capture rapid Earth system dynamics such as soil–plant–atmosphere interactions, rainfall interception, snowfall and rain-on-snow events. Ground-based radar systems can resolve these processes but typically rely on high-end VNAs, limiting their affordability and deployment scale. This work presents a low-cost SFCW radar system built around a compact, SDR-based VNA with an enhanced RF front end supported by remote-access firmware and a cloud-based back end with automatic backup. Calibration experiments and preliminary measurements demonstrate that the system achieves stable performance and is capable of capturing high-temporal-resolution microwave signatures relevant for climate monitoring.
- Affiliations
Citations
Mulders, J. V., Vandenbroucke, J., Mareschal, M., Cox, B., Tronquo, E., Marshall, H.-P., Lambot, S., Lievens, H., & Strycker, L. D. (2026). Design and Implementation of an SFCW Radar Platform for Environmental Monitoring. NDT, 4(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/ndt4010006 (Original work published 2026)