An altimetry radar with small volume, light weight and high integration isdesigned and implemented on the basis of ARM processor. The radar mainly includesmicrowave and signal processing. By controlling the microwave transceiver module,the radargenerates the transmitting signal to detect the target and processes the received target echosignal. The relative heights of the ground and sea surface can be detected in real time. Thewave height can be calculated in real time under the condition of sea surface detection. Theexperimental results show that the radar can work stably, and the altimetry results can meetthe accuracy requirements. It has a certain engineering application prospect.