Sparse fusion imaging for a moving target in T/R-R configuration

Area of Science:

• Radar Systems Engineering
• Signal Processing
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• High-resolution imaging of non-cooperative moving targets presents significant challenges.
• Traditional inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) methods have limitations in achieving desired cross-range resolution within a coherent processing interval (CPI).

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel sparse fusion imaging method for enhanced high-resolution imaging of moving targets.
• To improve the cross-range resolution of radar imaging systems by utilizing data from multiple radar stations.

Main Methods:

• A transmitter/receiver-receiver (T/R-R) bistatic radar configuration is employed, generating two synthetic apertures from different aspect angles.
• Coherent fusion of radar echoes exploits the target's sparse scattering properties.
• The imaging problem is formulated as a sparse signal recovery problem under the maximum a posteriori (MAP) criterion.
• An iterative approach involving sparse imaging and parameter estimation is utilized.

Main Results:

• The proposed method constructs a larger virtual aperture by fusing two sub-apertures, leading to enhanced cross-range resolution.
• Simulation results demonstrate a significant improvement in cross-range resolution compared to standard ISAR imaging.
• The sparse fusion imaging method effectively handles non-cooperative moving targets.

Conclusions:

• The sparse fusion imaging method offers a superior approach for high-resolution radar imaging of moving targets.
• This technique provides a significant advantage in cross-range resolution over conventional ISAR within the same CPI.
• The T/R-R configuration combined with sparse signal recovery is effective for advanced radar imaging applications.