Imaging and target detection with a heterodyne-reception optical radar

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Remote Sensing
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Infrared radar systems are crucial for various applications.
• Understanding performance limitations is essential for system design.
• Atmospheric conditions and target characteristics impact radar performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a mathematical system model for compact heterodyne-reception infrared radar.
• To analyze the impact of atmospheric turbulence, target speckle, glint, and receiver noise on radar performance.
• To determine image signal-to-noise ratio and target detection probability.

Main Methods:

• Developed a mathematical system model for heterodyne-reception infrared radar.
• Incorporated statistical effects of atmospheric turbulence, target speckle, glint, and shot noise.
• Calculated signal-to-noise ratio for a matched-filter envelope-detector receiver and detection probability for a likelihood ratio processor.

Main Results:

• Turbulence-induced beam spreading and coherence loss are negligible for realistic parameters.
• Target speckle and atmospheric scintillation significantly degrade single-frame imaging performance.
• These factors also present serious limitations for target detection.

Conclusions:

• The developed model provides insights into infrared radar performance limitations.
• Target speckle and scintillation are key challenges for effective infrared radar operation.
• Further research may focus on mitigating these specific performance limitations.