Bistatic SAR using illumination from a tethered Ground Moving Target Indication Radar

In order to limit the ground clutter obscuration of very slow moving targets, ground moving target indication (GMTI) radars can be operated from stationary platforms. These systems generally cannot detect stationary targets for surface target surveillance. However, by using a small unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as a bistatic adjunct to GMTI system, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image can be formed. Modeling of bistatic SAR with a stationary transmitter was carried out to determine limitations on waveform and receiver platform operational parameters.