Demonstration MTI/SAR capability

The aim of this project is to demonstrate to the Dutch armed forces the capability of MTI (Moving Target Indicator) and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar). This is done with the Dutch PHARUS sensor. The sensor is used to demonstrate how a phased array antenna can be used as an MTI/SAR sensor combination. The advantage of such a system is its flexibility and scalability. As a consequence such a system can be used on small platforms like a short range UAV and on a large platform like the JointSTARS E-8C. The resolution of the experimental PHARUS sensor is not adequate for military purposes: PHARUS is only used to demonstrate the principle of an MTI/SAR sensor. The military capability of an MTI/SAR sensor is shown by using public information of other MTI/SAR systems.
PHARUS has been used to investigate and demonstrate the following SAR and MTI techniques, with phased array SAR: Spotlight SAR, Stepped frequency f or high range resolution, MTI and STAP (Space Time Adaptive Processing), Super-resolution and image enhancement, and Change detection.
To demonstrate the capabilities of an MTI/SAR system the above has been complemented by a report section on future aspects, containing public information of other MTI/SAR systems. The importance of a SAR/MTI capability has been recognised by the Netherlands Defence. Civil applications of a SAR/MTI sensor could be traffic monitoring in case of large happenings.
The report is accompanied by a CD-ROM giving an overview of the principles of SAR and MTI and the capabilities of advanced SAR and MTI systems. As far as the experiments are concerned, the conclusions which can be drawn are that the PHARUS system is a very useful and versatile experimental system with which a number of experiments could be done. Also, the system can be used for a number of future experiments. However, as we already knew, the range resolution is insufficient for some other experiments. For these experiments other sensors, e.g. the future MiniSAR system must be used. Further, it can be concluded that the MTI/SAR capability is very important for military applications due to its ability: to operate at day and night and in adverse weather conditions like cloud cover and fog. Also it can be operated at large stand-off range and is able to detect moving targets.