Simulation of Target Responses to High Frequency Ultra Wideband Radar SignalsUsing the Physical Optics Impulse Response

摘要

High frequency ultra wideband radar signals are constructed by modulating amicrowave or millimeter wave carrier with a broad bandwidth signal with the percentage bandwidth of the modulating signal being typically more than 20% of the carrier frequency. The wideband properties of the signal render the single number radar cross section (RCS) inadequate for target response simulations. Instead, a characteristic function describing the response of the target to the waveform must be obtained in either the time or frequency domain. A first approximation to the temporal impulse response of a target can be obtained from physical optics (PO). The target's response to an ultra wideband radar signal can then be obtained by convolving the signal with the temporal impulse response of the target. A computational method of obtaining the PO temporal impulse response was reported recently in the open literature, but no comparisons were given between the computed and theoretical responses. In this paper, a computational method of obtaining a PO signal response is described, and the results are compared to analytic responses for some primitive volumes (flat plate, cone, sphere).