Le Bourget appears like its never been seen before... courtesy of an image that highlights the capabilities of the Hughes Integrated Surveillance and Reconnaissance (HISAR) synthetic aperture radar system.
As part of a 10-month, 15-country demonstration tour, Hughes Aircraft and project partner Raytheon Aircraft have produced a 6m resolution HISAR strip image of Paris that was taken from a range of 85km. In the centre of the image, both the Arc de Trimophe and the "bright" return of the iron Eiffel Tower are clearly visible.
The HISAR, which is mounted on a Raytheon Beech King Air B200T, has also produced a 1.8m resolution spot image of Le Bourget, again from a range of 85km. The runways and chalet lines can be picked out.
The system has already been demonstrated across the US, and Paris marks the beginning of the international tour.
Hughes says it chose the King Air as the platform chiefly because there are some 800 aircraft around in the US, it makes an inexpensive platform and it is highly compatible.
Source: Flight Daily News