A modified OMP method for multi-orbit three dimensional ISAR imaging of the space target

The conventional two dimensional(2D)inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR)imaging fails to provide the targets'three dimensional(3D)information.In this paper,a 3D ISAR imaging method for the space target is proposed based on mutliorbit observation data and an improved orthogonal matching pursuit(OMP)algorithm.Firstly,the 3D scattered field data is converted into a set of 2D matrix by stacking slices of the 3D data along the elevation direction dimension.Then,an improved OMP algorithm is applied to recover the space target's amplitude information via the 2D matrix data.Finally,scattering centers can be reconstructed with specific three dimensional locations.Numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed 3D imaging method.

Target rotation parameter estimation for ISAR imaging via frame processing

Frame processing method offers a model-based approach to Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar(ISAR) imaging. It also provides a way to estimate the rotation rate of a non-cooperative target from radar returns via the frame operator properties. In this paper, the relationship between the best achievable ISAR image and the reconstructed image from radar returns was derived in the framework of Finite Frame Processing theory. We show that image defocusing caused by the use of an incorrect target rotation rate is interpreted under the FP method as a frame operator mismatch problem which causes energy dispersion. The unknown target rotation rate may be computed by optimizing the frame operator via a prominent point. Consequently, a prominent intensity maximization method in FP framework was proposed to estimate the underlying target rotation rate from radar returns. In addition, an image filtering technique was implemented to assist searching for a prominent point in practice. The proposed method is justified via a simulation analysis on the performance of FP imaging versus target rotation rate error.Effectiveness of the proposed method is also confirmed from real ISAR data experiments.

Fast ISAR imaging method based on scene segmentation

Although compressed sensing inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging methods are widely used in radar signal processing, its reconstructing time and memory storage space requirements are very high. The main reason is that large scene reconstruction needs a higher dimension of the sensing matrix. To reduce this limitation, a fast high resolution ISAR imaging method,which is based on scene segmentation for random chirp frequencystepped signals, is proposed. The idea of scene segmentation is used to solve the problems aforementioned. In the method,firstly, the observed scene is divided into multiple sub-scenes and then the sub-scenes are reconstructed respectively. Secondly, the whole image scene can be obtained through the stitching of the sub-scenes. Due to the reduction of the dimension of the sensing matrix, the requirement of the memory storage space is reduced substantially. In addition, due to the nonlinear superposition of the reconstructed time of the segmented sub-scenes, the reconstruction time is reduced, and the purpose of fast imaging is achieved.Meanwhile, the feasibility and the related factors which affect the performance of the proposed method are also analyzed, and the selection criterion of the scene segmentation is afforded. Finally,theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

ISAR imaging of high-speed moving targets in short-range using impulse radar

In order to improve the measurement accuracy of weapons, ultra-wideband(UWB) inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging of high-speed moving targets in short-range is studied. In the scheme, because the positions of scatters vary with the radar line-of-sight(LOS) angle when the high-speed target is passing through the closest point of the approach, the concept of equivalent scattering point(ESP) is proposed. The Hough transform is employed to implement ESP motion parameter estimation,while the target translational motion is compensated by using the ESP time delay, and the angle spanned by the target is estimated by utilizing geometric relationship of ESP motion. Finally, the twodimensional image of the target is restructured by using the near field time-domain back-projection algorithm. Simulation results confirm that the proposed method is efficient.

Inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging based on sparse signal processing

Based on the measurement model of inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) within a small aspect sector,an imaging method was presented with the application of sparse signal processing.This method can form higher resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar images from compensating incomplete measured data,and improves the clarity of the images and makes the feature structure much more clear,which is helpful for target recognition.The simulation results indicate that this method can provide clear ISAR images with high contrast under complex motion case.

Analysis of inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging in the presence of time-varying plasma sheath

The plasma sheath can induce radar signal modulation,causing not only ineffective target detection,but also defocusing in inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR)imaging.In this paper,through establishing radar echo models of the reentry object enveloped with time-varying plasma sheath,we simulated the defocusing of ISAR images in typical environment.Simulation results suggested that the ISAR defocusing is caused by false scatterings,upon which the false scatterings’formation mechanism and distribution property are analyzed and studied.The range of false scattering correlates with the electron density fluctuation frequency.The combined value of the electron density fluctuation and the pulse repetition frequency jointly determines the Doppler of false scattering.Two measurement metrics including peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity are used to evaluate the influence of ISAR imaging.

Entropy function optimization for radar imaging

The convergence performance of the minimum entropy auto-focusing（MEA） algorithm for inverse synthetic aperture radar（ISAR） imaging is analyzed by simulation. The results show that a local optimal solution problem exists in the MEA algorithm. The cost function of the MEA algorithm is not a downward-convex function of multidimensional phases to be compensated. Only when the initial values of the compensated phases are chosen to be near the global minimal point of the entropy function, the MEA algorithm can converge to a global optimal solution. To study the optimal solution problem of the MEA algorithm, a new scheme of entropy function optimization for radar imaging is presented. First, the initial values of the compensated phases are estimated by using the modified Doppler centroid tracking （DCT）algorithm. Since these values are obtained according to the maximum likelihood （ML） principle, the initial phases can be located near the optimal solution values. Then, a fast MEA algorithm is used for the local searching process and the global optimal solution can be obtained. The simulation results show that this scheme can realize the global optimization of the MEA algorithm and can avoid the selection and adjustment of parameters such as iteration step lengths, threshold values, etc.

High resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging of three-axis-stabilized space target by exploiting orbital and sparse priors

The development of inverse synthetic aperture radar （ISAR） imaging techniques is of notable significance for moni- toring, tracking and identifying space targets in orbit. Usually, a well-focused ISAR image of a space target can be obtained in a deliberately selected imaging segment in which the target moves with only uniform planar rotation. However, in some imaging segments, the nonlinear range migration through resolution cells （MTRCs） and time-varying Doppler caused by the three-dimensional rotation of the target would degrade the ISAR imaging performance, and it is troublesome to realize accurate motion compensation with conventional methods. Especially in the case of low signal-to-noise ratio （SNR）, the estimation of motion parameters is more difficult. In this paper, a novel algorithm for high-resolution ISAR imaging of a space target by using its precise ephemeris and orbital motion model is proposed. The innovative contributions are as follows. 1） The change of a scatterer projection position is described with the spatial-variant angles of imaging plane calculated based on the orbital motion model of the three-axis-stabilized space target. 2） A correction method of MTRC in slant- and cross-range dimensions for arbitrarily imaging segment is proposed. 3） Coarse compensation for translational motion using the precise ephemeris and the fine compensation for residual phase errors by using sparsity-driven autofo- cus method are introduced to achieve a high-resolution ISAR image. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Ultra-lightweight CNN design based on neural architecture search and knowledge distillation: A novel method to build the automatic recognition model of space target ISAR images

In this paper,a novel method of ultra-lightweight convolution neural network(CNN)design based on neural architecture search(NAS)and knowledge distillation(KD)is proposed.It can realize the automatic construction of the space target inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR)image recognition model with ultra-lightweight and high accuracy.This method introduces the NAS method into the radar image recognition for the first time,which solves the time-consuming and labor-consuming problems in the artificial design of the space target ISAR image automatic recognition model(STIIARM).On this basis,the NAS model’s knowledge is transferred to the student model with lower computational complexity by the flow of the solution procedure(FSP)distillation method.Thus,the decline of recognition accuracy caused by the direct compression of model structural parameters can be effectively avoided,and the ultralightweight STIIARM can be obtained.In the method,the Inverted Linear Bottleneck(ILB)and Inverted Residual Block(IRB)are firstly taken as each block’s basic structure in CNN.And the expansion ratio,output filter size,number of IRBs,and convolution kernel size are set as the search parameters to construct a hierarchical decomposition search space.Then,the recognition accuracy and computational complexity are taken as the objective function and constraint conditions,respectively,and the global optimization model of the CNN architecture search is established.Next,the simulated annealing(SA)algorithm is used as the search strategy to search out the lightweight and high accuracy STIIARM directly.After that,based on the three principles of similar block structure,the same corresponding channel number,and the minimum computational complexity,the more lightweight student model is designed,and the FSP matrix pairing between the NAS model and student model is completed.Finally,by minimizing the loss between the FSP matrix pairs of the NAS model and student model,the student model’s weight adjustment is completed.Thus the ultra-lightweight and high accuracy STIIARM is obtained.The proposed method’s effectiveness is verified by the simulation experiments on the ISAR image dataset of five types of space targets.

Micro-motion effect in inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging of ballistic mid-course targets

For ballistic mid-course targets,in addition to constant orbital motion,the target or any structure on the target undergoes micro-motion dynamics,such as spin,precession and tumbling.The micro-motion characteristics of the ballistic mid-course targets were discussed.The target motion model and inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging model for this kind of targets were built.Then,the influence of micro-motion on ISAR imaging based on the established imaging model was presented.The computer simulation to get mid-course target echoes from static darkroom electromagnetic scattering data based on the established target motion model was realized.The imaging results of computer simulation show the validity of ISAR imaging analysis for micro-motion targets.

ISAR cross-range scaling based on the MUSIC technique

Cross-range scaling plays an important role in the inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging. Many of the published cross-range scaling algorithms are based on the fast Fourier transformation(FFT). However, the FFT technique is resolution limited, so that the FFT-based algorithms will fail in the rotation velocity(RV) estimation of the slow rotation target. In this paper,we propose an accurate cross-range scaling algorithm based on the multiple signal classification(MUSIC) method. We first select some range bins with the mono-component linear frequency modulated(LFM) signal model. Then, we dechirp the signal of each selected range bin into the form of sinusoidal signal, and utilize the super-resolution MUSIC technique to accurately estimate the frequency. After processing all the range bins, a linear relationship related to the RV can be obtained. Eventually, the ISAR image can be scaled. The proposal can precisely estimate the small RV of the slow rotation target with low computational complexity. Furthermore, the proposal can also be used in the case of cross-range scaling for the sparse aperture data. Experimental results with the simulated and raw data validate the superiority of the novel method.

EXTRAPOLATION OF RF ECHO DATA BASED ON AR MODELING

Autoregressive (AR) modeling is applied to data extrapolation of radio frequency (RF) echo signals, and Burg algorithm, which can be computed in small amount and lead to a stable prediction filter, is used to estimate the prediction parameters of AR modeling. The complex data samples are directly extrapolated to obtain the extrapolated echo data in the frequency domain. The small rotating angle data extrapolation and the large rotating angular data extrapolation are considered separately in azimuth domain. The method of data extrapolation for the small rotating angle is the same as that in frequency domain, while the amplitude samples of large rotating angle echo data are extrapolated to obtain extrapolated echo amplitude, and the complex data of large rotating angle echo samples are extrapolated to get the extrapolated echo phase respectively. The calculation results show that the extrapolated echo data obtained by the above mentioned methods are accurate.

Compressive Sensing Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Based on Gini Index Regularization

In compressive sensing(CS) based inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging approaches, the quality of final image significantly depends on the number of measurements and the noise level. In this paper, we propose an improved version of CSbased method for inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging. Different from the traditional l1 norm based CS ISAR imaging method, our method explores the use of Gini index to measure the sparsity of ISAR images to improve the imaging quality. Instead of simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation(SPSA), we use weighted l1 norm as the surrogate functional and successfully develop an iteratively re-weighted algorithm to reconstruct ISAR images from compressed echo samples. Experimental results show that our approach significantly reduces the number of measurements needed for exact reconstruction and effectively suppresses the noise. Both the peak sidelobe ratio(PSLR) and the reconstruction relative error(RE) indicate that the proposed method outperforms the l1 norm based method.