Imaging and Doppler parameter estimation for maneuvering target using axis mapping based coherently integrated cubic phase function

Abstract In this paper, we propose a novel imaging and Doppler parameter estimation algorithm for ground maneuvering targets. Since the cross-track acceleration will induce the quadratic chirp rate (third-order phase) in the phase history, it may cause the maneuvering target severely smeared in the Doppler domain. To obtain a well-focused target imaging result, the quadratic chirp rate must be estimated accurately. Though cubic phase function (CPF) is efficient in estimating the parameters of a single maneuvering target, it may suffer from the identifiability problem when dealing with multiple maneuvering targets. To address these issues, an axis mapping (AM) based coherently integrated cubic phase function (CICPF) algorithm is proposed. This algorithm consists of two stages. Firstly, the linear chirp rate migration (i.e. quadratic chirp rate) of target in the time and chirp-rate domain is corrected by AM. After that, a dechirping technique is utilized to coherently integrate the auto-terms, and suppress the cross-terms and spurious peaks. Compared with several existing quadratic chirp rate estimation approaches, AM based CICPF (AMCICPF) algorithm can acquire lower signal-to-noise ratio threshold and estimate the centroid frequency, chirp rate and quadratic chirp rate of maneuvering target simultaneously. By compensating the chirp rate and quadratic chirp rate, a finely focused maneuvering target imaging can be obtained. Both simulated and real data processing results show that the AMCICPF algorithm serves as a good candidate for maneuvering target Doppler parameter estimation and imaging.