Title :
Ground-to-air measurement radar (GTAMS) for aircraft signature measurements
Author :
Jain, Atul ; Patel, Indu
Author_Institution :
Hughes Aircraft Co., Los Angeles, CA, USA
Abstract :
An advanced portable instrumentation radar system for radar cross section(RCS) measurements of airborne targets is described. This system operates in the 7-11-GHz region, has a maximum continuous bandwidth of 4 GHz, utilizes programmable waveforms, and is operable in the stepped frequency, fixed frequency or the burst grab mode with pulse repetition frequency (PRF) to 500 kHz. The transmitter has 200 W peak power with 50 ns rise and fall times and 1 μs minimum pulse width. The radar can be operated in a search mode with open loop manual alignment or in an acquisition mode with a closed loop angle and range track. The antenna configuration consists of a three-dish system, utilizing a single polarity transmit antenna, a track receive antenna-monopulse comparator, and a dual polarity receive antenna. Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) images obtained on a commercial airplane in various test configurations are described and indicate that this system is a useful tool for diagnostic analysis of RCS of aircraft in flight
Keywords :
air-traffic control; aircraft; ground support systems; microwave imaging; military systems; radar cross-sections; radar systems; remote sensing by radar; synthetic aperture radar; tracking systems; 200 W; 4 GHz; 500 kHz; 7 to 11 GHz; Fourier transforms; X-band; acquisition mode; airborne targets; aircraft signature measurements; burst grab mode; closed loop; diagnostic analysis; dual polarity receive antenna; fixed frequency; ground to air measurement radar; inverse synthetic aperture radar; military systems; open loop manual alignment; portable instrumentation; programmable waveforms; pulse repetition frequency; radar cross section; search mode; single polarity transmit antenna; stepped frequency; three-dish system; Aerospace electronics; Airborne radar; Aircraft; Frequency; Instruments; Radar cross section; Radar measurements; Radar tracking; Receiving antennas; Transmitting antennas;
Conference_Titel :
Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, 1992. IMTC '92., 9th IEEE
Conference_Location :
Metropolitan, NY
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-0640-6
DOI :
10.1109/IMTC.1992.245111
