Enhancing the Resolution of the Radar Target Range Profiles Using a Class of Subspace Eigenanalysis-Based Techniques

Quinquis, A., Demeter, S., and Radoi, E., Enhancing the Resolution of the Radar Target Range Profiles Using a Class of Subspace Eigenanalysis-Based Techniques, Digital Signal Processing11 (2001) 288?303The problem of estimating with better accuracy the time delays corresponding to the scattering centers of a radar target is considered in this paper. The analyzed signature is the range profile, which represents the scattering center projection on the line of sight. The inverse Fourier transform of the frequency spectra, which is often used to obtain range profiles, is limited in resolution by the available frequency band. The maximum likelihood method or the genetic techniques give better results, but they converge very slowly because of the global nature of the used algorithms. A class of subspace, eigenanalysis-based superresolution methods is considered in this paper in order to overcome the limitations of the Fourier method and to give a real-time estimate of the scattering center positions with much better accuracy. Some theoretical remarks, a statistical study, and experimental results are aimed to give a deeper insight concerning their application to enhancing the resolution of the range profiles.