Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can provide superior flexibility and cost-efficiency for modern radar imaging systems, which is an ideal platform for advanced remote sensing applications using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology. In this paper, an energy-efficient passive UAV radar imaging system using illuminators of opportunity is first proposed and investigated. Equipped with a SAR receiver, the UAV platform passively reuses the backscattered signal of the target scene from an external illuminator, such as SAR satellite, GNSS or ground-based stationary commercial illuminators, and achieves bi-static SAR imaging and data communication. The system can provide instant accessibility to the radar image of the interested targets with enhanced platform concealment, which is an essential tool for stealth observation and scene monitoring. The mission concept and system block diagram are first presented with justifications on the advantages of the system. Then, a set of mission performance evaluators is established to quantitatively assess the capability of the system in a comprehensive manner, including UAV navigation, passive SAR imaging and communication. Finally, the validity of the proposed performance evaluators are verified by numerical simulations.
翻译:现代雷达成像系统是利用合成孔径雷达(SAR)技术进行先进遥感应用的理想平台,在本文件中,首先提出并调查使用机会照明器的节能被动无人机雷达成像系统(UAV),在安装SAR接收器时,UAV平台被动地重新利用外部照明器,如SAR卫星、全球导航卫星系统或地面静止商业照明器等外部照明器所发出的目标场点背散射信号,并实现双静态合成合成合成孔径雷达成像和数据通信,该系统可以使有关目标的雷达图像能够即时进入,而强化平台隐藏是观测和现场监测的基本工具,飞行任务概念和系统区图首先说明该系统的优点,然后建立一套特派团性能评估员,以便全面评估系统的能力,包括UAV导航、被动合成孔径雷达成像和通信。最后,拟议的性能评估员的有效性通过数字模拟得到核实。