Space-time adaptive processing for airborne radar with various array orientations

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) is a crucial technique for the new generation airborne radar with high air-to-ground performance. The authors study this technique applied to airborne early warning (AEW) radars with various array orientations, which include the sideways looking array radar (SLAR) and non-sideways looking array radar. First, the ground clutter is characterised by showing the angular-Doppler spectra and Doppler-range relation for various array orientations. Secondly, the impact of various array configurations and pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) on the STAP performance by the use of a multiple Doppler channels joint adaptive processing (M-CAP) approach is analysed. Thirdly, a 3-Doppler-channel processing scheme, in coordination with the various PRF modes, is recommended to solve the STAP problem for practical AEW radars with various array orientations. Finally, some examples are given by simulation to show the performance of the 3-Doppler-channel processing scheme for various cases of interest and to validate the theoretical analysis