Development of a networked photonic‐enabled staring radar testbed for urban surveillance

Mohammed Jahangir*, Darren Griffiths, Daniel White, Gwynfor Donlan, Xiaofei Ren, Jithin Kannanthara, Yeshpal Singh, Joseph P. Wayman, Chris J. Baker, Jon P. Sadler, Jim Reynolds, Michail Antoniou

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Urban surveillance of slow-moving small targets such as drones and birds in low to medium airspace using radar presents significant challenges. Detecting, locating and identifying such low observable targets in strong clutter requires both innovation in radar hardware design and optimisation of processing algorithms. To this end, the University of Birmingham (UoB) has set-up a testbed of two L-band staring radars to support performance benchmarking using datasets of target and clutter from realistic urban environment. This testbed is also providing the vehicle to understand how novel radar architectures can enhance radar capabilities. Some of the challenges in installing the radar at the UoB campus are highlighted. Detailed benchmarking results are provided from urban monostatic and bistatic field trials that form the basis for performance comparison against future hardware modification. The solution to the challenge of interfacing the radar to the external oscillators is described and stand-alone bench tests with the candidate oscillators are reported. The testbed provides a valuable capability to undertake detailed analysis of performance of Quantum photonic-enabled radar and allows for its comparison with conventional oscillator technology for surveillance of low observable targets in the presence of urban clutter.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages15
JournalIET Radar, Sonar & Navigation
Early online date19 Dec 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 19 Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work is funded by the UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing and Timing (EP/T001046/1) and the EPSRC MEFA (EP/T011068/1) projects. The authors are grateful to Thales for helping with installing the radar and their ongoing engagement with the research work supported by the testbed.

Keywords

  • Doppler radar
  • micro Doppler
  • radar clutter
  • radar target recognition
  • radar
  • doppler radar
  • micro doppler

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