Design challenges and capability of a ground-based foliage penetration radar

Development of a ground-based foliage penetration (FOPEN) radar would significantly aid surveillance and border protection of forested regions; however it presents several design challenges. Transmission through dense foliage yields substantial two-way attenuation losses, more than 50 dB through 400m of forest at VHF/UHF frequencies. The need to operate at lower frequencies also imposes challenges to fielding a portable system. An ultra-wideband (UWB) FOPEN radar prototype has been developed with the goal of detecting slow moving human targets through dense foliage while maintaining a portable size. Field testing of the system has yielded favorable comparisons to theory with detection to 1200m in tower mounted, mixed foliage scenarios and to 300m in tripod mounted, dense foliage scenarios.