SAR systems provide the capability of environmental monitoring, earth-resource mapping and military systems, which require broad-area imaging at high resolutions.

Sandia has contracted with a customer to investigate an upgrade to their existing radar system, and is testing the upgrades in Moriarty because of too much interference at Kirtland Air Force Base, where experimental phases are typically tested. Specific customer details were not released due to confidentiality.

"They basically have a 70s-model radar," said Dale Dubbert, distinguished member of Sandia's technical staff. "It's old technology that is very specific and limited in what it can do. They want a next-generation system."

Sandia will be testing the prototype system this week and next week, Dubbert said. The customer will evaluate the system for any problems, and Sandia will offer solutions at a later phase in the project.

This SAR system capability provides high resolution imagery, regardless of inclement weather or time of day, Dubbert said.

Here's a quick rundown of how the experiments going on at the airport work:

The radar system on an aircraft overhead basically acts as a camera with its own illumination source. The system locates radar-responsive beacons on the ground. The beacons receive a signal and send it back to the radar, where the operator on board the aircraft can monitor the images. The radar signals are transmitted at several thousand gigahertz. By contrast, television signals are several hundred megahertz, Dubbert said.

The MITRE Corporation is also on hand in Moriarty doing an independent study using the signals from the Sandia radar. MITRE manages four federally funded research and development centers, departments including the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, IRS, Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Homeland Security. They will be finishing the data collection phase of their study this week, Dubbert said.

Sandia has a long history in the development of the components and technologies applicable to synthetic aperture radar. It was only over the last decade that they have applied these technologies to imaging radars to meet the needs of advanced weapon systems; verification and nonproliferation programs; and environmental applications, according to Sandia's Web site.

This isn't the first time Sandia has worked in the Estancia Valley, Dubbert said.

Broadcast television, radio and cell phones were interfering with SAR experiments about 14 years ago, Dubbert said, prompting Sandia to move to the Estancia and Moriarty areas.

"Sandia Crest has some of the worst interference in the nation," Dubbert said.

"There are hundreds of thousands of watts of transmitters up there, a very high energy interference which prompted us to move to the east side of the mountains."

For more information on SAR system capabilities, check out www.sandia.gov/radar.