IMPULSE RADAR FOR AIRBORNE DETECTION AND DISCRIMINATION OF BURIED LAND MINES

ANALYSIS OF THE MISSION REQUIREMENTS COUPLED WITH AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY INDICATES THAT AN AIRBORNE MONOSTATIC PULSED RADAR WOULD HAVE SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO DETECT SURFACE AND LAND MINES. THE SYSTEM USES INCOHERENT DETECTION COUPLED WITH A SHARPLY PULSED RADAR SIGNAL: THE SHARP PULSE (ABOUT 1 NANOSECOND) ELIMINATES THE OVERLAP BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTING PULSE AND THE RETURN SIGNAL. THE AVERAGE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY SHOULD BE LIMITED TO 5E6 PULSES PER SECOND TO AVOID RANGE AMBIGUITIES, AS ESTIMATED AT 100 FEET ALTITUDE AND A 30 KNOT SWEEP RATE. THE PULSE RATE IS ALSO A FUNCTION OF SCAN WIDTH (100 METERS) AND TARGET SIZE RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS, AN ESTIMATED PULSE RATE OF 15E3 PULSES PER SECOND SHOULD BE ADEQUATE. THE AVERAGE RADAR POWER UNDER THESE CONDITIONS IS STRONGLY DEPENDENT ON TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION BUT WOULD NOT EXCEED APPROXIMATELY 100 WATTS FOR MOST TARGETS. A MAJOR ISSUE IS THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE MINE FROM OTHER OBJECTS (NATURAL AND DECOYS); NEURAL NETWORK ALGORITHMS AND CLUTTER REJECTION ALGORITHMS WILL BE UTILIZED TO DEVELOP AN USER FRIENDLY SYSTEM. TO REDUCE RISK, A PROOF OF CONCEPT HARDWARE DEMONSTRATION IS SCHEDULED AT THE END OF PHASE I. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - RAPID DETECTION OF BURIED AND SURFACE MINES IS NECESSARY TO SUPPORT SWIFTLY MOVING MILITARY OPERATIONS. OTHER APPLICATIONS INCLUDE DETECTION OF BURIED TREASURE, PLASTIC OR METAL UTILITY PIPES AND CONDUITS (COMMERCIAL AND UTILITIES), AND BURIED EVIDENCE SUCH AS GUNS (POLICE).