Radar systems analysis and design using MATLAB (Q2734576)

A third of the human cortex cerebri is devoted to vision, which is the most important sense of human beings. The all-weather, day/night capability of radar signal processing efficiently extends the visional sense. Microwave radar systems have been operated since the early 1930s of the last century. They function to detect targets based on backscattering and reradiation of microwave energy from targets. In addition, radar systems measure echo characteristics to determine target parameters that include range, Doppler range rate, angle, velocity, and signature. Advanced radar techniques that include synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation for better vision permit modest-size antennas to develop ultra-high resolution ground maps for remote sensing and ground scene imaging [\textit{D. L. Mensa}, Radar imaging. Int. J. Imag. Syst. Technol. 4, 148-163 (1992)]. The radar modality has, since its inception, used optical phenomena as an interface between the electromagnetic signals at the output of the receiver and the user of the radar modality. The primary output device for most of the past 50 years has been the line-scan cathode-ray tube (CRT). The CRT display presented to operators a picture of that portion of the world observed by a particular radar, or a graphical display of signal amplitude as a function of radar coordinates. Further, in the specialized field of SAR image formation, analog optical computing performed the Fourier transform signal processing necessary to convert the phasor signals over many pulse repetition intervals to high-resolution maps of the holographically observed ground surface. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEUntil the 1970s, such optical methods were the only means of processing the mass of data involved in the SAR image formation. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEIn the late 1970s, digital computers and their storage capacity matured enough for use in SAR image formation processing. Due to its higher flexibility and error correction capability, optical techniques have been replaced nowadays by the methods of digital image processing. In a digital SAR imaging processor, a fast Fourier transform (FFT) emulation is an essential step. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe book under review concentrates on radar fundamentals, principles and elementary mathematical derivations. It includes matched filtering, radar ambiguity functions and SAR image formation, and provides the user with a comprehensive set of MATLAB 5.0 software that can be used for radar analysis and radar system design [\textit{M. Soumekh}, Synthetic Aperture Radar Signal Processing with MATLAB Algorithms. J. Wiley \& Sons, New York (1998; Zbl 0974.94003); \textit{G. Thomas}, Range-Doppler Radar Imaging and Motion Compensation. Artech House, Boston, London (2000)]. All programs will accept user inputs or execute using the default set of parameters. Even with the advent of high-speed digital processors, however, current optical processors still provide two to three orders of magnitude greater processing speed of the same weight, size, and power consumption.