Reference project: HERA (Helicopter Radar)

Helicopter radar antenna

Development of GPRs for airborne survey of inaccessible areas and to speed up the data acquisition process in co-operation with BGR (Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources).

Customer: BMWi (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology)

In order to permit GPR surveys in otherwise inaccessible areas and to speed up the data acquisition process, RST developed a Stepped-Frequency GPR system in cooperation with BGR (Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources) that can be operated from flying platforms like helicopters or air ships.

The GPR System HERA (HElikopter RAdar) was developed as a Stepped Frequency (SF) Radar in two versions:

  • HERA-Z: Standard SF GPR with high stepping speed and 2 polarizations on receive, installation of the radar system inside and the antenna system below a helicopter or airship
  • HERA-G: Gated SF-GPR with reduced pulse length for higher sensitivity, complete electronics on the antennas below, only the data acquisition computer is inside the helicopter

HERA GPRs are used for Helicopter-based survey on near surface layers and structures.