Maritime targets velocity estimation in space-based passive multistatic radar using long integration times

Abstract

Target detection by means of space-based passive radar sensors generally requires the adoption of long integration time strategies to reinforce sufficiently the signal strength. These are usually based on the recovery of the target Doppler-rate to cope with the range and Doppler migration experienced over the long dwell considered. In this work, we put forward a Taylor-series approach that capitalizes on the set of bistatic Doppler-rates estimated in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)-based multistatic radar configurations to estimate the velocity of ship targets with increased accuracy with respect to conventional Doppler-based procedures. Both the cases of single-element and array receiver configurations have been considered. Theoretical and numerical results under different use cases show as leveraging on the long integration times adopted at the detection stage could significantly increase the accuracy of the estimated ship velocity components. Few experimental results are also provided, verifying the potentialities of the proposed approach in operative scenarios of practical interest for this technology. The proposed approach is not limited at the GNSS case, but it could be potentially applied to any multistatic passive radar system.