Simulations of L-band staring radar moving target integration efficiency

Abstract

Aveillant Ltd has developed a staring L-band radar that deploys a static quasi-monostatic antenna in transmission and a static digital phased array on receive capable of generating multiple simultaneous beams. Because the antenna is not rotating, the radar can stare at targets and select long dwell times with no effect on the scan rate. High Doppler resolution can be achieved and used to detect small targets, such as drones, even in heavy clutter. Despite the staring array, targets moving with a variable radial velocity generate echoes with a time-varying Doppler frequency shift that limits the integration gain achievable with standard Fourier Transform based techniques. As a result, the number of pulses can be integrated remains limited to the effective coherent processing interval with a consequent suboptimal Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). This paper presents the results of a set of simulations aimed at studying the integration gain efficiency of a staring radar of the type of the Aveillant Holographic radar for targets moving with a constant and non-constant radial velocity. The case of a target flying horizontally with respect to the radar boresight is investigated to show that compensation techniques can be potentially employed to maximise coherence on the target and the resulting integration gain.