Search

We consider a conceptual approach for the applicability of airborne weather radar for the sea ice/water discrimination and estimation of the sea ice age. The sea ice/water discrimination method suited for the airborne weather radar utilization is based on finding the minimum statistical distance of the measured normalized radar cross sections within a wide azimuth sector to the geophysical model functions of the sea ice and water, respectively. The sea ice age classification is based on the comparison of the normalized radar cross section value at a given incidence angle to the lower normalized radar cross section boundaries for the first-, second-, and multi-year ice. Implementation of the proposed methodology is considered for the C-band airborne weather radar operated in the ground mapping mode as a scatterometer scanning in a wide azimuth sector up to ±100°. We show explicitly that the proposed approach provides the enhancement of the conventional airborne weather radar functionality for the sea ice/water discrimination and sea ice age estimation either using stand-alone or joint measurements.

This article describes the design and implementation of a low-profile sinuous slot antenna, intended for ultra-wideband (UWB) sensor networks, which can be produced on one conductive layer. The article explains the design and optimization of the sinuous slot antenna and its modifications, including its sinusoidal curve shape. Other modifications were aimed at optimizing the antenna feeding. Desirable properties of the designed and implemented antenna modifications were verified both by simulation and empirically. Experimental measurements of the antenna&rsquo, s properties were carried out using a vector network analyzer in an anechoic chamber and also by a pulsed UWB radar in the frequency range from 0.1 to 6 GHz. The low-profile antennas were implemented on a Rogers RO3206 substrate.

In our laboratory, we developed a simple estimation of the wall thickness by the UWB (Ultra Wide-Band) radar system. The described technique measures the wall thickness in the two steps. The first step is a measurement of the wall relative permittivity. The second step is a reflections localization and estimation of the wall thickness. The borders of the wall could be detected by the envelope of the received signals. The described technique calculates the signal envelope by the Hilbert transform. Moreover, the relative permittivity of the wall is estimated by the technique developed in our department as well. The effective relative permittivity is calculated from the frequency dependency of relative permittivity.

Energy harvesting is a future technology for capturing ambient energy from the environment to be recycled to feed low-power devices. A planar antipodal Vivaldi antenna is presented for gathering energy from GSM, WLAN, UMTS and related applications. The designed antenna has the potential to be used in energy harvesting systems. Moreover, the antenna is suitable for UWB applications, because it operates according to FCC regulations (3.1 – 10.6 GHz). The designed antenna is printed on ARLON 600 substrate and operates in frequency band from 0.810 GHz up to more than 12 GHz. Experimental results show good conformity with simulated performance.

In our laboratory, we developed a new technique for measurement of the relative permittivity of the wall by the UWB (Ultra-wideband) radar system. The primary use of the radar is the localization of moving objects behind the wall. Developed method will be used in a process of the localization ofpersons for increasing the accuracy of the measurement process. The method was developed for the impulse radar system. This paper describes the behaviour of this method in M-sequence radar system and comparison of results with the impulse radar system.

Historical overview of evolution wideband antennas and some practical realizations of UWB antennas are presented. Practical realization of antennas are made by LTCC technology mostly, PCB technology or their combinations. Main features of antennas such as wide frequency bandwidth, high gain and the smallest dimensions as possible are described. The features should be helpful for future research of described antennas suitable for UWB radar applications.

In this paper, imaging method for moving target tracking by a multistatic ultra-wideband radar system is described. The task of moving target tracking consists in estimation of a target trajectory based on processing of raw radar data obtained from all receiving channels of a radar system. Then, the imaging method applied for target tracking consists of such signal processing phases as raw radar data pre-processing, background subtraction, fusion of the data obtained by receiving antennas of a radar, detection, localization and tracking itself. The performance of the imaging method described in this paper is demonstrated by signal processing obtained by M-sequence UWB radar for a scenario represented by through wall tracking of a single moving target. The obtained results confirm the excellent performance of the discussed method.