NEXT GENERATION ULTRA WIDEBAND (UWB) INTRUSTION DETECTION RADAR FOR THE PROTECTION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES

IMPULSE RADAR WHICH DERIVES ITS "MAIN BANG", A TRANSIENT, BY EXCITING AN ANTENNA CAVITY WITH A SUBNANOSECOND PULSE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE FOR INTRUSION DETECTION. A RECENT SBIR PROGRAM COMPLETED FOR DNA RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW LOW COST, LIGHT WEIGHT, RADAR SENSOR FOR THE PROTECTION OF NUCLEAR SITES NOW BEING MARKETED COMMERCIALLY. DURING THE DNA FIELD EXPERIMENTS ON ANIMAL AND HUMAN SUBJECTS, A TARGET SCINTILLATION PHENOMENA WAS DISCOVERED WHICH, IF EXPLOITED, SHOULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE FALSE ALARMS NOW PREVALENT IN RADAR INTRUSION SENSORS. THIS PHENOMENA RELATES TO THE APPARENT VARIATION TO THE LEADING EDGE OF THE TARGET DUE TO THE CONSTRUCTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE OF THE SCATTERING CENTERS AND GROUND BOUNCE SIGNALS. IT IS PROPOSED UNDER PHASE I TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP A DISTRIBUTED NETWORK FILTER FOR MEASURING THE RATE OF CHANGE OF TARGET DISTANCE; IMPULSE RADAR SENSORS PERMIT RANGE RESOLUTION OF ABOUT 3 INCHES. THE OUTPUT OF THE FILTER IS DESIGNED TO FEED A BANDPASS FILTER AND ALARM CIRCUIT FOR PROCESSING AND DISCRIMINATION. ONCE BENCH TESTED, THE FILTERPROCESSOR WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO AN EXISTING IMPULSE RADAR SENSOR AND FIELD TESTED BY SMI, A SUBCONTRACTOR. BASED ON THE SUCCESS OF THE PHASE I TESTS AND NEW EQUIPMENT NOW UNDER CONSIDERATION ON OTHER PROGRAMS FOR RANGE EXTENSION, A SUGGESTED SENSOR DEVELOPMENT FOR PHASE II IS PROPOSED.