Clutter and Ambiguity Reduction Using 3-Dimensional Side-Looking Synthetic Aperture Radar

Advancement in radar component technology has led to a reduction in the size, weight, and power consumption of radar systems. Experimental radar systems can now be integrated onto smaller, maneuverable platforms, such as small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs). Integration onto rotor-based sUAVs enables data collection over novel synthetic apertures which can be optimized for different scenarios. The design, simulation, and experimentation of a light-weight, ultra-wideband synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is presented here that will be used for the detection of obscured surface targets. The approach outlined herein uses 3-dimensional (3-D) imagery to vertically resolve clutter from the target. A vertical-grid aperture is presented which yields vertical resolution. Point spread functions are derived for both linear and vertical-grid apertures. The analytical expressions are verified using simulations. Finally, experimental data is used to form 3-D imagery and demonstrate the importance of vertical resolution in the discrimination between scatterers above the ground, as well as clutter mitigation.