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NTU scientists come up with lightweight mini radar
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Project lead Professor Lu Yilong (left) and senior research fellow Liu Weixian (centre) carry the drone carrying the prototype of the synthetic aperture radar, while NTU Satellite Research Centre director Lim Wee Seng holds a microsatellite that the radar can be attached to for launching into space.
ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO
Jose Hong
Search and rescue operations by air can be hampered by cloud cover, but a group of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) scientists has developed a radar that creates images from radio waves which can even penetrate through plumes of smoke.
The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can see through the thick dust and ash a volcano spews out to locate survivors during an eruption. It is also able to interpret information that is not visible to the naked eye, such as ground soil types or minute tectonic plate movements.
