Publications

The precise and accurate detection of dismounts is a desired capability for many radar systems. To detect dismounts under foliage requires using a radar with foliage penetrating (FOPEN) capability. FOPEN frequencies are subject to unique phenomenological aspects that are not typically encountered at microwave frequencies. This phenomenology places limitations on the feasibility of microwave radar approaches for dismount detection. This report provides an overview of these aspects of FOPEN radar system design.

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This paper discusses sea clutter models, developed and validated for X-band radar returns, and extrapolated to Ku-band. Statistical distributions for sea clutter both with and without sea spikes are presented. Equations and predictions for sea clutter returns versus grazing angle and sea-state at Ku-band are also detailed.

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In this paper, we address the needed components to create usable engineering and operational user interfaces (UIs) for airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems. As airborne SAR technology gains wider acceptance in the remote sensing and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) communities, the need for effective and appropriate UIs to command and control these sensors has also increased. However, despite the growing demand for SAR in operational environments, the technology still faces an adoption roadblock, in large part due to the lack of effective UIs. It is common to find operational interfaces that have barely grown beyond the disparate tools engineers and technologists developed to demonstrate an initial concept or system. While sensor usability and utility are common requirements to engineers and operators, their objectives for interacting with the sensor are different. As such, the amount and type of information presented ought to be tailored to the specific application.

The evolution of exquisitely sensitive Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems is positioning this technology for use in time-critical environments, such as search-and-rescue missions and improvised explosive device (IED) detection. SAR systems should be playing a keystone role in the United States' Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance activities. Yet many in the SAR community see missed opportunities for incorporating SAR into existing remote sensing data collection and analysis challenges. Drawing on several years' of field research with SAR engineering and operational teams, this paper examines the human and organizational factors that mitigate against the adoption and use of SAR for tactical ISR and operational support. We suggest that SAR has a design problem, and that context-sensitive, human and organizational design frameworks are required if the community is to realize SAR's tactical potential.