A novel range alignment method for ISAR based on linear T/R array model

In inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging, translation compensation should be done before range-Doppler imaging process, and range alignment is the first step for translation compensation. In order to remove the limitation of integer range bin and align the echoes precisely for ISAR range alignment, combining with the advantage of array signal processing at fractional unit delay compensation, we propose a novel range alignment method based on linear transmitting/receiving (T/R) array. Firstly the ISAR imaging system is modeled as a linear T/R array. Then based on the snapshot imaging model of linear T/R array, range alignment is accomplished by wave path difference compensation which is transformed into the phase difference compensation in frequency domain between adjacent array elements. The phase difference compensation consists of integer range bin alignment and decimal time delay compensation which is implemented by the phase rotation’s estimation and compensation in frequency domain. Finally, the results of simulation data and real radar data are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

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