Noise radar technology: Waveforms design and field trials

Performance of continuous emission noise radar systems are affected by the sidelobes of the output of the matched filter, with significant effects on detection and dynamic range. Hence, the sidelobe level has to be controlled by a careful design of the transmitted waveform and of the transmit/receive parts of the radar. In this context, the average transmitted power has to be optimized by choosing waveforms with a peak-to-average power ratio as close to the unity as possible. However, after coherent demodulation and acquisition of the received signal and of the reference signal at the transmitting antenna port, the goodness (low sidelobes) of the output from the matched filter can be considerably reduced by the deleterious effects due to the radar hardware, including the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This paper aims to solve the above problems from both the theoretical and the practical viewpoint and recommends the use of tailored waveforms for mitigating the dynamic range issues. The new findings are corroborated by the results from two noise radar demonstrators operating in Germany (rural environment) and in Turkey (coast and sea environment) and the related lessons learnt.