  This paper reports on a near-infrared survey of early-type galaxies designed
to provide information on bar strengths, bulges, disks, and bar parameters in a
statistically well-defined sample of S0-Sa galaxies. Early-type galaxies have
the advantage that their bars are relatively free of the effects of dust, star
formation, and spiral structure that complicate bar studies in later type
galaxies. We describe the survey and present results on detailed analysis of
the relative Fourier intensity amplitudes of bars in 26 early-type galaxies. We
also evaluate the symmetry assumption of these amplitudes with radius, used
recently for bar-spiral separation in later-type galaxies.
  The results show a wide variety of radial Fourier profiles of bars, ranging
from simple symmetric profiles that can be represented in terms of a single
gaussian component, to both symmetric and asymmetric profiles that can be
represented by two overlapping gaussian components. More complicated profiles
than these are also found, often due to multiple bar-like features including
extended ovals or lenses. Based on the gravitational bar torque indicator Q_b,
double-gaussian bars are stronger on average than single-gaussian bars, at
least for our small sample. We show that published numerical simulations where
the bar transfers a large amount of angular momentum to the halo can account
for many of the observed profiles. The range of possibilities encountered in
models seems well-represented in the observed systems.
