Search and rescue detection of small vessels and life rafts is a critical challenge.

Small wooden or plastic boats, and especially unpowered life rafts, have minimal radar cross-section and are virtually invisible to both marine radar and satellite imaging systems.

In collaboration with Defence Science & Technology, THELSAR (University of Auckland) is creating foldable, low-cost marine radar reflectors engineered for high visibility in space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery under the SAR4SAR project.

Paired with AI detection algorithms, we automate and enhance search operations using satellite data at a significantly higher success rate and lower cost than current approaches.