Radar Imaging Guidance

Radar sensor suites used by seekers and ISR platforms frequently must collect multiple types of radar data. In addition to moving target indication (MTI) data used for target tracking (tracking data), such systems often also collect high resolution radar information about specific targets in order to facilitate automatic target recognition (ATR) or classification (ATR data). This ATR data can include Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) or Inverse Synethetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging data as well as non-imaging data such as High Range Resolution (HRR) profiles of targets. Currently, these platforms must switch radar modes in order to collect ATR data, potentially giving up the ability to maintain target tracks while images are being generated. Gathering ATR data can take from a few seconds to tens of seconds depending on system parameters and the imaging method used. The ability to obtain high resolution ATR data while simultaneously tracking targets would significantly improve the usability of tracking sensors. It would allow tracking of high-priority targets to continue while some targets are identified. This ability can make the difference between missing a high priority target or not, for both seeker and ISR platforms. In the proposed effort, IMSAR will design and evaluate methods to enable radar systems to collect high resolution ATR data while maintaining target track.