Waveform Independent Range Profile Reconstruction for Synthetic Aperture Radar

Abstract:
The matched filter paired with the linearly phase modulated (LFM) waveform is the traditional means for range-profile estimation in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) but typically produces high sidelobes degrading SAR image quality. In this work, an alternative processing approach for estimation of the range-profile is presented which provides low range sidelobes by exploiting use of the cyclic-extension method found in OFDM systems. With knowledge of the transmitted and received signal and the length of the scene of interest, system identification is used to estimate the scene range profile. We demonstrate with LFM and non-linear waveforms the simulated performances for the range profile estimation and compare it to a similar OFDM approach. Analysis of performance when antenna sidelobes effectively extend the expected length of scene is also detailed.

Biography:
Claire Tierney is a 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.