ISAR imaging of targets with moving parts using micro-doppler detection on the range profile image

In ISAR imaging, most works have assumed the target to be a rigid body, a body without any rotating, vibrating or moving parts. The rotation of structures in a target, such as the rotor of a helicopter or the turret of a tank target, may induce frequency modulation on the returned signals and generate sidebands about the center frequency of the target´s body Doppler frequency, known as the micro-Doppler phenomenon. In this paper we present a new method based on range grouping of the target´s range profile for the separation of the rotating or moving parts from the target´s body. The method is carried out on the Range Profile Image, different from other methods that do the separation at the signal level.