Abstract:
Scanning mode is one of the commonly employed operational modes for airborne radar. Utilizing wide-area scanning and imaging signal processing techniques, airborne radar can acquire high-resolution images of large scenes, providing significant value in reconnaissance, fire control, and autonomous navigation. Doppler Beam Sharpening (DBS), a widely used imaging technique in radar scanning, enhances azimuth resolution by exploiting the Doppler frequency shift differences generated by the relative motion between the platform and targets. However, its resolution degrades drastically in the forward-looking direction due to the reduction in Doppler gradient. Monopulse imaging technology achieves high-precision, real-time imaging by processing the phase ratio between channels, effectively addressing the resolution degradation problem for forward-looking imaging. Nevertheless, this method yields inferior resolution compared to DBS in the side-looking and squint-looking regions of the scan. To address this, this paper proposes a wide-area scanning imaging method that simultaneously enhances resolution in both forward-looking and squint-looking regions: By decomposing the echo signal and dynamically partitioning the effective DBS zone and the monopulse high-confidence region based on platform motion parameters, dynamic switching between imaging modes is achieved. Additionally, the Burg algorithm is introduced to improve the image sharpening ratio. Simulations and measured data tests demonstrate that the proposed method leverages the respective advantages of both techniques, meets the requirements for large-scale forward-looking imaging, and significantly enhances the clarity of complex scene imagery.