Aspects of Radar Imaging Using Frequency-Stepped Chirp Signals

The high-resolution, frequency-stepped chirp signal can be applied to radar systems employing narrow-bandwidth chirp pulses, in order to enhance the range resolution, and to implement SAR/ISAR imaging capabilities. This paper analyzes the effect of moving targets on the synthetic high-resolution range profile obtained using this signal waveform. Some constraints are presented for compensation of the radial motion from shift and amplitude depression of the synthetic range profile. By transmitting two chirp pulses with the same carrier frequency in a pulse-set, a method of ground clutter cancellation is designed with respect to this signal format. Finally, our simulation data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.