Exploration of Ground Obstacle Visibility in a Degraded Visibility Environment by an Airborne Landing Radar

Abstract

Computed 3-D 35-GHz radar images from a proposed forward-looking synthetic aperture radar (SAR) are shown to help evaluate a proposed landing radar that would mount on the front of a helicopter. The radar, which is currently under design at the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, would assist landing in degraded visual environments. In particular, 3-D SAR images of three near-ground obstacles an overhead power-line section and a pristine ZSU antiaircraft vehicle, both over flat ground, and a boulder field are created from computed radar data from their models. SAR images of the models shown in a 3-D space are clearly visible, though the power line may only be detected at very limited incidence angles. Boulders over a rough ground were clearly distinct even with a ground roughness characterized by a root-mean-square height of 15 cm with a correlation length of 2 m.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1131839

Entities

People

  • Christopher S. Kenyon

Organizations

  • United States Army

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Airborne
  • Aircrafts
  • Antennas
  • Bandwidth
  • Central Processing Units
  • Computations
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Electrical Properties
  • Environment
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Bands
  • Helicopters
  • Images
  • Military Research
  • Radar
  • Radar Antennas
  • Radar Cross Sections
  • Radar Images
  • Roughness
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional
  • Vehicles
  • Visibility

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management
  • Radar Systems Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers