Range Surveillance Using Radio Interferometry and TDOA Techniques

The proposed innovation will utilize a small network of remote sensors (Figure 2.1) to perform Radio Interferometry (RI) and Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) techniques to survey, identify and locate Radio Frequency (RF) energy signatures within a given geographic area such as a launch range or other strategic area. The survey mission will use radio interferometry techniques to create RF "images" of the surveyed area. These images will show the locations of all RF activity within an area. While an area is secure, a set of images will be captured and averaged to establish the nominal RF baseline for that area. Once the baseline is established, real-time RF surveys will be instantly compared to the nominal baseline to detect the existence of RF spectral anomalies. The TDOA and RI techniques used to establish the RF images will determine the precise location of any spectral anomaly source so that it can be quickly and cost effectively identified and mitigated.