Multi-channel Signal Modeling and AMTI Performance Analysis for Distributed Space-based Radar Systems

Abstract

Due to the limited size, carrying capacity, power-aperture product, and high hardware cost of satellite platform, the traditional single-platform spaceborne radar system encounters the problems of poor target minimum detectable velocity (MDV) performance, considerably deteriorating the moving target detection performance. To improve the air moving target indication (AMTI) performance, especially for a weak target, distributed space-based radar system (DSBR) becomes a good candidate due to the longer along-track baseline (ATB) and spatial power synthesis. However, due to the sparse configuration of radar baseline distribution, the detection performance of air moving targets (AMTs) will be restricted by many practical factors in an actual DSBR system. In this paper, multi-channel signal models of an observed moving target and ground clutter are accurately established in a DSBR framework, where the error influences of cross-track baseline (CTB), terrain fluctuation, and channel inconsistency response are considered. Then, the influence of the non-ideal factors, including the channel noise, long-intersatellite ATB, long-intersatellite CTB, synchronization errors, and interchannel amplitude and phase inconsistency errors, on the AMTI performance is analyzed term by term. The simulation results provide the useful guidance for the system design of a DSBR with the AMTI tasks.