Distributed Radar System for Mapping Debris

Spectral Sciences, Inc., and subcontractors University of Massachusetts (Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory) and Corvid Technologies, Inc., propose a scalable distributed radar system for mapping debris that will allow high precision tracking inside a fireball created by arena and sled tests. The key innovation of the proposed system is adapting techniques for debris tracking in tornados to tracking arena and sled test debris. Innovative algorithms for super-resolving trajectories extend this technique to tracking individual fragments. The key factor in keeping costs down is the combination of two types of radar: ranging pulse-pair Doppler (PPD) and continuous wave (CW) Doppler thereby maximizing the use of commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) components. A critical component of the scalable network will be novel processing algorithms. Innovations include fusion of the sensor data and processing of the entire time sequence of the event in order to precisely track fragments as small as 1 cm even at the initial opaque phase of the fireball. A radar system will be optimally configured to minimize opacity due to both plasmas and clutter. The sensor network-algorithm combination addresses the wide range of fragment velocities and offers high resolution without the necessity of costly wide bandwidth radar. Approved for Public Release 14-MDA-8047 (14 Nov 14)