Efficient knowledge-aided target relocation algorithm for airborne radar

Abstract

This letter addresses the problem of target relocation in wide-area ground moving target indication system. The antenna pattern information is exploited as prior knowledge to enhance the performance of airborne radar. Firstly, the ideal target relocation model for moving targets based on the dual-channel radar system is analysed and the mismatch model of the receiving channel is constructed. Then the reason for poor relocation performance is analysed and the channel error model is constructed. Based on this fact, the problem of target relocation is converted into a problem of channel phase estimation. Moreover, a least-squares method is utilised to estimate the phase error by exploiting the real antenna pattern information and a modified mono-pulse curve (MPC) is derived. Finally, the real geometry location of the moving target can be achieved with the modified MPC. Airborne radar experiments are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords

• search radar
• synthetic aperture radar
• radar signal processing
• radar clutter
• airborne radar
• phase estimation
• radar detection
• target tracking
• channel phase estimation
• antenna pattern information
• airborne radar experiments
• efficient knowledge-aided target relocation algorithm
• wide-area ground moving target
• ideal target relocation model
• dual-channel radar system
• mismatch model
• receiving channel
• poor relocation performance
• channel error model