La recherche de trace de vie, passée ou présente, sur Mars est l’objectif principal de la mission martienne européenne ExoMars (ESA-Roscosmos), dont le lancement est prévu pour l’été 2020. Cette mission déposera à la surface de Mars un Rover équipé d'instruments dédiés notamment à l’étude du sous-sol de la planète dont une foreuse collectera des échantillons. Le travail de thèse présenté dans ce manuscrit porte sur la préparation du retour scientifique de l’expérience du radar WISDOM (Water Ice and Subsurface Deposits Observation on Mars) embarqué à bord du Rover d’ExoMars 2020 et dont l’objectif principal est la caractérisation, avant forage, du sous-sol proche de Mars.Les données recueillies par WISDOM permettront d’identifier les formations géologiques du sous-sol et de comprendre les processus qui en sont à l’origine. Elles guideront également les opérations de prélèvement d'échantillons en profondeur. L'objectif de cette thèse était de préparer les outils de traitements et d'interprétation de ces données. Les résultats obtenus doivent permettre d'exploiter au mieux les possibilités de l'instrument et d’atteindre les ambitieux objectifs technologiques (en termes notamment de résolution et de sensibilité) et scientifiques fixés. Plus précisément, il s’agissait de mettre en place des outils pour aboutir à une description des premiers mètres du sous-sol via l’interprétation des radargrammes de WISDOM en termes d’épaisseur de couche(s), de rugosité des interfaces, de distribution en taille d’éventuelles roches enfouies, d’orientation des strates et de constantes géo-électriques pour les unités géologiques détectées.Ce travail de thèse a permis la mise en place d’une chaîne de traitement de données ainsi que d’outils d’interprétation (traitement automatique et modélisation du radar).L’approche a été d’aborder le problème à la fois du point de vue théorique et du point de vue pratique. En conséquence, ce travail s’est appuyé sur deux aspects indissociables que sont, d’une part, la modélisation (analytique et numérique) du fonctionnement de l’instrument dans son environnement et, d’autre part, le traitement des données simulées et/ou expérimentales obtenues en milieu contrôlé ou lors de campagnes de mesures organisées dans le cadre de cette thèse. / The main objective of European ExoMars (ESA-Roscosmos) mission is to search for signs of past or present life on Mars. The mission, to be launched in summer 2020, will deliver a rover on the surface of Mars. This rover accommodates instruments designed to investigate the close subsurface and, in particular, a drill that will collect samples at depth ranging from 0.5 m to 2 m. This thesis manuscript relates the preparation of the scientific return of the WISDOM (Water Ice and Subsurface Deposits Observation on Mars) radar experiment whose main objective is to characterize, before drilling, the shallow subsurface of Mars.Data obtained by WISDOM will shed the light on geological structures in the subsurface and therefore help trace back the history of the investigated Martian sites. Furthermore, they will help to identify the most promising locations to collect samples without jeopardizing the drill. The objective of this thesis was to efficiently pave the way to data interpretation and appraise WISDOM’s potentiality.In order to reach the ambitious scientific and technologic objectives (especially in terms of resolution and sensitivity) of WISDOM, we have developed tools that rely on a deep understanding of the instrument. The ultimate goal of these tools is to provide a reliable representation of the shallow subsurface and quantitative interpretation in terms of thickness and orientation of underground layers, roughness at interfaces, distribution of buried rocks and geoelectrical constant for each geological unit detected.This thesis manuscript describes the signal processing chain and tools developed in order to prepare WISDOM’s scientific return. When possible, approaches based on automatic detection were preferred. This work relies both on theoretical and practical investigations, including an accurate (analytical and numerical) modeling of the instrument operations and test on experimental data acquired during field campaigns on potential Martian analogs.

No description available.

<P> For over six decades, the theory and design of radar systems have been dominated by probability theory and statistics, information theory, signal processing and control. However, the similar encoding-decoding property that exists between the visual brain and radar has been sadly overlooked in all radar systems. This thesis lays down the foundation of a new generation of radar systems, namely cognitive radar, that was described in a 2006 seminal paper by Haykin. Four essential elements of cognitive radar are Bayesian filtering in the receiver, dynamic programming in the transmitter, memory, and global feedback to facilitate computational intelligence. All these elements excluding the memory compose a well known property of mammalian cortex, the perception-action cycle. As such, the cognitive radar that has only this cycle is named as the basic cognitive radar (BCR). For t racking applications, t his thesis presents the underlying theory of BCR, with emphasis being placed on the cubature Kalman filter to approximate the Bayesian filter in the receiver, dynamic optimization for transmit-waveform selection in the transmitter, and global feedback embodying the transmitter , the radar environment, and the receiver all under one overall feedback loop. </p> <p> Built on the knowledge learnt from the BCR, this thesis expands the basic perception-action cycle to encompass three more properties of human cognition , that is, memory, attention, and intelligence. Specifically, the provision for memory includes the three essential elements, i. e. , the perceptual memory, executive memory, and coordinating perception-action memory that couples the first two memories. Provision of the three memories adds an advanced version of cognitive radar, namely the nested cognitive radar (NCR) in light of the nesting of three memories in the perception-action cycle. </p> <p> In this thesis, extensive computer simulations are also conducted to demonstrate the ability of this new radar concept over a conventional radar structure. Three important scenarios of tracking applications are considered, they are (a), linear target tracking; (b), falling object tracking; and (c), high-dimensional target tracking with continuous-discrete model. All simulation results confirm that cognitive radar outperforms the conventional radar systems significantly. </p> <p> In conducting the simulations, an interesting phenomenon is also observed, which is named the chattering effect. The underlying physics and mathematical model of this effect are discussed. For the purpose of studying the behaviour of cognitive radar in disturbance, demonstrative experiments are further conducted. Simulation results indicate the superiority of NCR over BCR and t he conventional radar in low, moderate and even strong disturbance. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

The NASA GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility focused radar system employed a large (43 cm diameter) dielectric focusing lens such that the water surface (target) was illuminated by a small radar spot (~1.25 cm diameter). With this small spot size, surface profiles and probability density functions could be generated. The system suffered an interference problem which made reliable data collection impossible. Study showed that the system had to be operated bistatically in order to reduce the effects of interference found to be caused by signal leaking directly from the transmitter to the receiver. Since the system was operated in a confined space (the wind-wavetank), multipath was found to generate interference signals. The multipath interference was reduced via strategic placement of radio frequency absorber. A comparison was made between experimental results with the original system and the final bistatic system to demonstrate the effect of the reduction in interference. A model was also derived for the direct leakage interference and used to explain experimental results. / Master of Science

This report presents a general procedure for estimating the average clutter power received by an airborne Doppler radar as a function of time and frequency. Its purpose is to construct the received power waveform at the output of a matched filter for use in the development of clutter maps related to Doppler signal processing. In developing the algorithm, several of its features are given close examination; this includes a numerical and analytical justification for the azimuth to Doppler coordinate transformation, and the power spectrum returned to the airborne Doppler radar from the surface it illuminates. This algorithm produces a continuous power returned waveform versus time. Hence, this algorithm has the flexibility to accept any surface radar cross section, antenna gain, and pulse type (a matched filter receiver is assumed) as a function of range and azimuth. It was discovered that the algorithm could be executed with significantly less computer time if the integration surface area was reduced by exploiting some physical insight. In addition, it was discovered through example that the refracting effects of the Earth's atmosphere become important as the radar's beam approaches the horizon. Finally, return power waveforms are studied for two different situations: near nadir pointing, and near horizon pointing. The manner in which the matched filter ambiguity function and the spectrum of backscattered power combine to produce these waveforms is examined. / Master of Science

Radar altimeter experiments have shown the need for expanding the downward-looking, single-beam system into a multiple beam radar altimeter employing off-nadir altimetry so that information from a wider swath can be obtained from a single overflight. Problems associated with off-nadir altimetry include the effects of pointing angle errors on the return information and difficulty in performing accurate range tracking. In order to understand these problems, investigation of the sensitivity of the average return waveforms to pointing errors is necessary. These waveforms are computed using a convolutional model, including the effects of asymmetric antenna patterns, which is representative of NASA’s Multimode Airborne Radar Altimeter. The necessary convolutions are most efficiently performed by a method that uses the fast Fourier transform. The modeled waveforms are then used to devise a method that provides an estimate the pointing angle. / Master of Science

Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

Thesis (PhD (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A monostatic baseband radar is required with the capability of detecting close range targets that appear at distances comparable to the system’s resolution, without compromising the radar’s maximum range. The application in borehole radar imposes further constraints associated with the physical limitations and variable electromagnetic environment of different borehole diameters and conditions. This dissertation discusses the complete design process of the analog section of a monostatic radar that successfully addresses these issues. The proposed transceiver employs a series duplexing arrangement consisting of an antenna, transmitter, receiver and an isolation switch. An exponentially decaying tail is observed in the current flowing on a borehole radar antenna when excited by pulse waveforms. The characteristics of this tail depend strongly on the borehole environment. A measurement technique is developed that accurately quantifies this exponential decay by digitizing a logarithmic representation of the antenna current while it is operating in various boreholes. Transmitters are then designed to drive these antennas with waveforms that prevent the formation of current tails. This is achieved through the use of pole-zero networks or alternatively by generating certain asymmetric, bipolar waveforms. The transmitters are simultaneously designed to have an output impedance approximating a short circuit after the transient is generated. In the series configuration proposed here, the duplexing of the antenna between transmitter and receiver is then reduced to simply isolating the receiver during transmit-mode. The switch responsible for this isolation disconnects the receiver and presents a short circuit between antenna and transmitter during transmit-mode, while connecting the receiver terminals between the antenna and the short circuited transmitter terminals in receive-mode. The required close-in performance of the transceiver dictates that the transition between these two states of the isolation switch occur in a time similar to the duration of the transmitter waveform. The switching artefacts generated by the switch are consequently similar to the radar data signal. The isolation switch employs an innovative configuration (using both transistors and diodes) which accepts a single control signal and causes the switching artefacts to be generated as a common mode signal, while a differential path is created for the radar data signal which is being switched. This leads to effective suppression of the switching signal in the signal passed to the receiver. Dissipative filtering is advocated as a fundamental design principle for high fidelity receivers and it is shown how it can be applied by using constant impedance equalizers and diplexers as basic building blocks. This principle is used as the basis for the design of this transceiver's receivers, which incorporate both standard gain blocks and operational amplifiers. A complete borehole radar system, based on the transceiver developed here, was built and tested; resulting in the first known practical monostatic borehole radar system. Data obtained in field trials are presented and suggest that the monostatic system compares well with current state of the art bi-static systems. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die behoefte is geïdentifiseer vir 'n monostatiese basisbandradar wat oor die vermoë beskik om nabygeleë teikens op 'n afstand soortgelyk aan die resolusie van die stelsel waar te neem, sonder om die maksimum bereik van die stelsel in te kort. Die toepassing daarvan in 'n boorgatradarstelsel lei tot verdere vereistes vanweë die fisiese beperkings en veranderende elektromagnetiese omgewing van boorgate met verskillende deursnitte en toestande. Hierdie proefskrif is gemoeid met die volledige ontwerpsprosedure van die analoog gedeelte van 'n monostatiese radar wat al hierdie kwessies aanspreek. 'n Serie verbinding van antenne, sender, ontvanger en isolasieskakelaar word ingespan vir hierdie ontwerp. Eksponensieel wegsterwende stertjies word waargeneem in die antennestroom van 'n boorgatradarantenne wanneer dit aangedryf word deur puls golfvorms. 'n Meettegniek word ontwikkel wat hierdie eksponensiële verslapping noukeurig kan monitor deur 'n logaritmiese voorstelling van die antennastroom te versyfer terwyl dit ontplooi word in verskillende boorgate. Senders word dan ontwikkel om hierdie antennes aan te dryf met golfvorms wat juis die vorming van hierdie stertjies voorkom. Dit word bewerkstellig deur die gebruik van pool-zero netwerke of andersins deur die opwek van sekere asimmetriese, bipolêre golfvorms. Die senders se uittree-impedansies moet egter terselfdertyd ontwerp word om 'n kortsluiting te benader sodra die oorgang klaar opgewek is. Met die serie verbinding wat hier gebruik word, raak die vereiste tyddeling van die antenna tussen die sender en ontvanger dan bloot 'n geval van ontvanger-isolasie gedurende uitsaai-modus. Die skakelaar wat verantwoordelik is vir hierdie isolasie ontkoppel die ontvanger en vertoon soos 'n kortsluiting tussen sender en antenne tydens uitsaai-modus, maar verbind weer die terminale van die ontvanger tussen die antenne en kortgeslote senderterminale tydens ontvang-modus. Die vereiste kortafstand vermoë van die stelsel veroorsaak dat die tysduur van die oorgang tussen hierdie twee modusse soortgelyk is aan dié van die sender golfvorm en enige skakelverskynsels wat opgewek word deur die skakelaar is gevolglik soortgelyk aan die radardatasein self. Die isolasieskakelaar gebruik egter 'n innoverende konfigurasie (met transistors sowel as diodes) wat funksioneer met 'n enkele beheersein en die skakelverskynsels as gemene modus seine opwek, terwyl 'n differensiële seinpad geskep word vir die radardatasein wat geskakel word. Die skakelseine word gevolglik effektief onderdruk in die sein wat oorgedra word aan die ontvanger. Die gebruik van verkwistende filters word voorgestel as 'n fundamentele ontwerpsbeginsel vir hoëtrou ontvangers en daar word getoon hoe dit toegepas kan word met konstante impedansie vereffeningsbane en dipleksers. Hierdie beginsel is dan ook gebruik as basis vir die ontwerp van hierdie stelsel se ontvangers, wat gebruik maak van beide standard aanwinsblokke sowel as operasionel versterkers. 'n Volledige boorgatradarstelsel, gebaseer op die stelsel wat hier ontwikkel is, is gebou en getoets. Die gevolg is die eerste bekende, praktiese monostatiese boorgatradarstelsel. Data wat hiermee verwerf is word aangebied en dui daarop dat die monostatiese stelsel baie goed opweeg teen huidige bi-statiese stelsels.

Supervision of human vital signs has always been an essential part in healthcare. Nowadays there is a strong interest in contact-less monitoring methods as they operate less static and offer higher flexibility to the people observed. Recent industrial development enabled radar functionality to be packed in single-chip solutions, decreasing application complexity and speeding up designs. Within this thesis, a vital sign radar prototype has been developed utilising a recently released 60GHz frequency modulated continous wave single-chip radar. The electronics development has been focused on compactness and high system integration. Special attention has been given to the onboard analogue signal filtering and digital data preprocessing. The resulting prototype radar is then tested and evaluated using test scenarios with increasing difficulty. The final experiments prove that the radar is capable of tracking human respiration rate and heartbeat simultaneously from a distance of 1m. It can be concluded that modern radar devices may be significantly miniaturised for e.g. portable operation while offering a wide variety of application possibilities including vital sign monitoring.