Bistatic noise radar: Demonstration of correlation noise suppression

Abstract In this study, spatial separation of the radar transmitter and receiver units is considered, as a means of reducing the masking effect in noise radars. A bistatic radar system is constructed, with emphasis on a lightweight transmitter unit that can be mounted on a commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The system uses pseudo‐random noise, generated digitally at the receiver and transmitter units. Correlation losses, due to non‐linearities in the transmitter and receiver units, are measured to 0.1 dB. This study shows that by separating the transmitter and receiver unit the masking effect is significantly reduced, compared to a monostatic setup. This reduction is enough for the system to detect a slow flying UAV. Thus, bistatic separation should be considered as a practical tool to reduce the masking effect. By processing clutter with an extended CLEAN algorithm, the correlation noise floor is further suppressed.