A Comparative Study of UWB FOPEN Radar Imaging Using Step-Frequency and Random Noise Waveforms

Authors

Xiaojian Xu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ram M. Narayanan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Date of this Version

2000

Comments

Published in IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2000. Vol. 4, pp. 1956-1959; doi: 10.1109/APS.2000.874874 Copyright 2000 IEEE. Used by permission.

Abstract

The detection and identification of targets that are obscured by foliage have been topics of great interest. Several experimental developments of such ultrawideband (UWB) radars have been published. By operating in the VHF and UHF frequency bands and using either LFM or step-frequency waveforms, these radars have demonstrated promising images of terrain and man-made objects obscured by dense foliage [l]. The University of Nebraska has developed a new technique that permits coherent processing of backscatter data acquired by a radar that transmits UWB random noise signals. This technique has been used in various applications, such as ground penetration detection of buried objects, Doppler estimation and interferometry, and SAR and ISAR imaging [2]. In this paper, by a comparative study of the radar images using stepfrequency and random noise waveforms, we demonstrate the ability of the UHF band UWB random noise radar for foliage penetration (FOPEN) surveillance applications.