A Novel Microwave Staring Correlated Radar Imaging Method Based on Bi-Static Radar System

Area of Science:

• Radar Systems
• Electromagnetics
• Image Processing

Background:

• Mono-static microwave staring correlated imaging (MSCI) suffers from image quality degradation at increased distances due to stochastic radiation field characteristics.
• Maintaining high image resolution in radar imaging is crucial for target detection and analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel bi-static microwave staring correlated imaging (MSCI) method to overcome the limitations of mono-static systems.
• To enhance image quality and resolution, particularly at longer imaging distances.

Main Methods:

• A new bi-static MSCI site-deploying scheme with transmitting stations at 90-degree azimuth separation.
• Synchronous transmission of inner-and-inter pulse frequency hopping (IAIP-FH) signals to create perpendicular "frequency stripes" in the radiation fields.
• Superposition of these striped fields to form a latticed radiation field for independent target scattering.

Main Results:

• The proposed bi-static MSCI method constructs a latticed radiation field, enabling image reconstruction via correlation process (CP) algorithms.
• The 3 dB beam width of the radiation field's space correlation function remains constant with imaging distance, preserving stochastic characteristics.
• Simulation results demonstrate that the novel method achieves higher resolution images compared to conventional mono-static MSCI.

Conclusions:

• The proposed bi-static MSCI method effectively mitigates image quality degradation caused by increasing imaging distances.
• This approach offers a significant advancement in radar imaging technology, providing superior resolution and performance.
• The combination of site-deploying strategy and IAIP-FH waveform design is key to the enhanced imaging capabilities.