Flight Attitude Estimation with Radar for Remote Sensing Applications

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and radar technology have benefitted from breakthroughs in recent decades. Both technologies have found applications independently of each other, but together, they also unlock new possibilities, especially for remote sensing applications. One of the key factors for a remote sensing system is the estimation of the flight attitude. Despite the advancements, accurate attitude estimation remains a significant challenge, particularly due to the limitations of a conventional Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Because these sensors may suffer from issues such as drifting, additional effort is required to obtain a stable attitude. Against that background, this study introduces a novel methodology for making an attitude estimation using radar data. Herein, we present a drone measurement system and detail its calculation process. We also demonstrate our results using three flight scenarios and outline the limitations of the approach. The results show that the roll and pitch angles can be calculated using the radar data, and we conclude that the findings of this research will help to improve the flight attitude estimation of remote sensing flights with a radar sensor.