Title :
Terrain height estimation using GMTI radar
Author :
Morgan, Charles ; Jaroszewski, Steven ; Mountcastle, Paul
Author_Institution :
Technol. Service Corp., Trumbull, CT, USA
Abstract :
We simulate the performance of existing and planned tactical GMTI (ground moving target indicator) systems using data cubes derived from high-fidelity interferometric SAR measurements, to assess the utility of these GMTI systems for an auxiliary terrain height estimation function. The two systems are current and next generation GMTI radars with linear and planar arrays, respectively, that could be mounted on a manned aircraft or a large UAV. In order to achieve the vertical element separation required for interferometric terrain height estimation, the antenna array in the first case must be pitched up relative to the horizontal position that is ordinarily used for DPCA or STAP clutter suppression. The purpose of the study is to determine whether useable terrain elevation maps can be generated by interferometric techniques within the operational constraints of these systems. Such elevation map data, obtained using a GMTI radar, would be valuable to knowledge-aided algorithms which rely on precise three-dimensional registration of radar data with terrain or road databases.
Keywords :
airborne radar; height measurement; linear antenna arrays; military radar; planar antenna arrays; radar antennas; space-time adaptive processing; synthetic aperture radar; terrain mapping; DPCA; KA-STAP; clutter suppression; ground moving target indicator systems; interferometric SAR measurements; knowledge-aided algorithms; large UAV; linear antenna arrays; manned aircraft; planar antenna arrays; tactical GMTI radar; terrain elevation maps; terrain height estimation; vertical element separation; Clutter; Databases; Interferometry; Level measurement; Radar measurements; Reflectivity; Roads; Surveillance; Synthetic aperture radar; Terrain mapping;
Conference_Titel :
Radar Conference, 2004. Proceedings of the IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8234-X
DOI :
10.1109/NRC.2004.1316453