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An Adaptable Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Radar For Unmanned Aerial Systems To Detect Oil In Sea Ice

Office/Division Program
OSRR
Project Number
1141
Research Initiation Date (Award Date)
Research Performing Activity
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Research Principal Investigator
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Research Contract Award Value
$509,158.00
Description

As Arctic ice has receded, exploration and development of oil reserves have increased, thereby requiring an effective strategy to mitigate oil spills. PNNL proposes demonstrating oil detection in and under sea ice via FMCW radar by leveraging recent advancements in commercial subcomponents and systems. Utilizing Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) hardware will address hardware reliability issues and focus work on implementation challenges.
 

Latest progress update

The team designed and built a radar system with processes that operates reliably in arctic temperatures. An experimental setup was built and a workflow was developed to acquire radar data from oil under sea ice. The team successfully collected data and is currently processing the results.