Staring RF signal processing challenges

Traditionally, distinct radar modes have been employed to accomplish specific tasks such as imaging an area of interest, or detecting and tracking moving targets. Staring circular synthetic aperture radar (S-CSAR) provides unique opportunities for exploitation of radio frequency (RF) data collected over a large ground spot. The same phase history may be processed in different manners to generate simultaneous S-CSAR products such as 2-D Video SAR, coherent and non-coherent change detection (CCD and NCD), and ground moving target indication (GMTI). Advanced signal processing techniques can take advantage of the S-CSAR geometry to produce 3-D scene reconstructions. The ability to transmit, record and process large volumes of S-CSAR data, to create high fidelity exploitation products, in real-time, poses significant challenges. This paper addresses several open problems in this research area.