Adaptive Waveform Design for Interference Mitigation in SAR

Abstract: The increasingly crowded spectral environment poses a problem for radar operation due to RF interference from surrounding users. Cognitive radar solutions have started to address this by adapting to avoid near-field interference sources. In this work, an adaptive waveform design technique for mitigation of in-band RFI for a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system aims to override an interference source and restore image quality. An efficient least-squares system identification solution is derived which assumes no prior knowledge of the interference and aims to identify the spectral density of the interference and separate this from the useful scene information. The waveform design method chosen creates a constant modulus amplitude waveform making full use of the transmitter power and is non-linear chirp based – providing a practical solution for implementation into current electronically scanned radar systems. A well-focused synthetic SAR image is produced via simulation and is then compared to the original image formed using the standard linear chirp and matched filter approach.

Biography: Claire Tierney is a 3rd year PhD student in the School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh UK and is co-sponsored by Leonardo MW (formally Selex ES). She obtained the MSc degree in High Performance Computing (2013) and BSc Physics (2012) from The University of Edinburgh. She worked in Radar Algorithms and Modelling at Leonardo MW for one year before beginning the collaborative PhD project in Adaptive Waveform Design under the supervision of Prof. Bernie Mulgrew.