Ricerc@Sapienza

This project is part of a larger work to be developed during the PhD program of both the proposers. The main objective of this research proposal is to define and develop innovative techniques for the target motion estimation in all its aspects. The applications to which this study is addressed are mainly based on the field of maritime surveillance, but can also be extended to other targets or areas of interest. In particular, this work wants to exploit both active and passive radar systems in order to have the full knowledge of the target motion.

First, the estimation of the target translational motion by using multistatic active ISAR acquisitions will be performed. Particularly, we want to define a decentralized scheme that exploits the single sensor estimation of specific signal parameters (i.e., Doppler frequency and Doppler rate) to estimate the kinematic parameters.

Then, the estimation of the target¿s velocity using a passive radar system based on multiple GNSS transmitters of opportunity will be carried out. Particularly, we will propose an approach based on bistatic range, Doppler and Doppler-rate measurements obtained by multiple bistatic transmitter-receiver pairs.

In both the radar scenario, the Doppler-rate information, extracted by means of conventional techniques (for example contrast maximization) at single sensor level in the first case and to previous detection stages based on Doppler rate-driven migration compensation procedures, is used as an innovative measure not conventionally used for motion estimation that will provide an enhancement in the estimation procedure.

Among the goals of this project, we want to develop these techniques, verify their effectiveness with simulated analysis, and, if possible, validate them with real data acquisition campaigns, by also extending their use to other applications besides those for maritime surveillance.