EXPERIMENTAL 3-D IMAGE FORMATION COMBINING ISAR AND MIMO RADAR PROCESSING

The relatively low cost implementation and the similar performance with respect to full antenna arrays have recently increased the interest in Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) radar. The JRC MIMO Enhanced Linear Short SAR (MELISSA) system is based on a Time Division MIMO Ground Based Synthetic Aperture Radar principle and is characterized by a significantly high data acquisition speed. MELISSA’s ability to obtain up to 200 2D images per second is combined with a resolution of up to 11 cm in range. The antenna array has 10 transmitter and 12 receiver elements forming 120 collinear virtual channels. The system allows formation of 2D images both using the MIMO radar and Inverse SAR approaches (ISAR). The system has the flexibility to change the direction along which the virtual array is formed. Aligning such direction to the normal of the rotation plane of the target allows to resolve scatterers in the elevation plane using the MIMO radar principle, and in the horizontal plane though ISAR image processing. The paper presents experimental results of 3D image formation of a rotating target in controlled environment. More specifically, a vertically oriented antenna array, provides 120 channels for the MIMO elevation plane. Each of the elevation channels is a source for an independent synthesized aperture, which is formed in scenario of constantly rotating target and stationary radar. The results presented demonstrate the possibility for MELISSA to provide 3D images of targets that can be used to improve automatic classification and recognition.

KYOVTOROV Vladimir;  TARCHI Dario;  VESPE Michele;  OLIVERI Franco;  MARINO Giovanni; 

2014-10-20

Institute of Acoustics (IOA)

JRC91141

978-1-906913-17-5,   

1478-6095,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC91141,