DEVICE AND METHOD FOR 3D SAMPLING WITH AVIAN RADAR
First Claim
1. A 3D radar sampling system used for monitoring and presenting the airborne activity within a surveillance volume, comprising:
- at least one volume-scanning radar device that tracks airborne targets;
a track database operatively connected to said volume-scanning radar system for organizing and storing, in time-ordered form and in spatial-ordered form, track data generated by said volume-scanning radar device; and
an airborne-target activity illustrator operatively connected to said track database that converts subsets of said organized and stored track data into airborne-target activity reports.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A 3D avian radar sampling system comprises a 3D volume scanning radar system and an avian track interpreter. Scanning methods employed ensure that volume revisit times are suitably short and track data produce 3D target trajectories. The avian interpreter uses the track data from the volume scanning radar to create detailed avian activity reports that convey bird abundance and behavior within a 3D cylindrical volume on intervals including hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Hourly activity reports (updated typically every 15 minutes) provide enhanced situational awareness of developing hazards and are actionable, allowing operators to dispatch wildlife control personnel to respond to threats.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. A 3D radar sampling system used for monitoring and presenting the airborne activity within a surveillance volume, comprising:
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at least one volume-scanning radar device that tracks airborne targets; a track database operatively connected to said volume-scanning radar system for organizing and storing, in time-ordered form and in spatial-ordered form, track data generated by said volume-scanning radar device; and an airborne-target activity illustrator operatively connected to said track database that converts subsets of said organized and stored track data into airborne-target activity reports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of sampling the abundance and behavior of airborne targets, comprising:
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operating a radar system to illuminate sub-volumes of a 3D volume and detect and track airborne targets within, the operating of the radar system including varying a pointing angle of a radar antenna so as to illuminate different sub-volumes of the 3D volume; collecting and organizing radar data from said radar system to generate temporally ordered track information and spatially ordered track information about the airborne targets tracked within the 3D volume over time; storing the temporally ordered track information and the spatially ordered track information; and generating reports that convey statistical information about bird abundance and behavior during selected time intervals and at selected locations within the 3D volume, the generating of said reports including accessing the stored temporally ordered track information and the stored spatially ordered track information. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An airborne-target track interpretation apparatus comprising
a radar data server (RDS) organizing and storing time-ordered track information pertaining to multiple airborne objects in a radar-scanned volume, a geographical data server (GDS) operatively connected to said radar data server, said geographical data server organizing and storing spatial-ordered track information pertaining to said multiple objects; - and
a target analytics processor (TAP) operatively connected to both said RDS and said GDS, wherein said radar data server is operatively connectable to one or more digital radar processors (DRPs) for receiving radar target data therefrom and organizing and storing said radar track data as said time-ordered track information, and wherein said analytics processor is configured to generate airborne-target activity reports for users from selected portions of said time-ordered track information and selected portions of said spatial-ordered track information. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of track interpretation for the timely delivery of airborne-target activity reports, comprising:
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receiving target data from an airborne-target radar; immediately storing said data in a database in a time-based form; re-organizing the stored data of said time-based form into a GIS-based form; and
storing the re-organized data in said GIS-based form. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A volume-scanning device comprising:
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an antenna; an azimuth scanner operatively coupled to the antenna for continuously rotating same about an azimuth axis; an elevation scanner operatively connected to the antenna for selecting an elevation pointing angle; a radar transmitter operatively connected to the antenna for generating a radar signal for emission via the antenna; a radar receiver operatively connected to the antenna; and a processor operatively connected to azimuth scanner and said elevation scanner for modifying the elevation pointing angle after each predetermined set of one or more revolutions of said azimuth scanner so as to scan a 3D volume via multiple revolutions of said azimuth scanner and a single cycle of movement of said elevation scanner, said processor being operatively connected to said receiver for detecting and localizing airborne targets in azimuth, elevation and range.
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38. A method of volume scanning for airborne targets comprising:
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operating a radar system to illuminate a first sub-volume of a 3D volume, a radar antenna of said radar system having a first elevation pointing angle during the illuminating of said first sub-volume; in response to the illuminating of said first sub-volume, detecting and tracking airborne targets within said first sub-volume; after the operating of said radar system to illuminate said first sub-volume, varying the elevation pointing angle of said antenna to have a second elevation pointing angle different from said first elevation pointing angle; operating said radar system to illuminate a second sub-volume of said 3D volume, said radar antenna of said radar system having said second elevation pointing angle during the illuminating of said second sub-volume; and in response to the illuminating of said second sub-volume, detecting and tracking airborne targets within said second sub-volume.
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39. A method of monitoring airborne targets, comprising:
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operating a first scanning radar apparatus to monitor at least one priority sub-volume of a 3D volume in real-time; and contemporaneously with the operating of said first scanning radar apparatus, operating a multi-function dual-axis second scanning radar apparatus to monitor at least another sub-volume of said 3D volume. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. Radar system componentry for use in surveillance of a substantial 3D volume over an extended period, said componentry comprising:
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a database; and a processor configured to process time-ordered track data to generate spatial-ordered target-object data including trajectory-ordered track data pertaining to respective target objects, said trajectory-ordered track data encoding trajectories that extend in space, said processor being coupled to said database for storing said spatial-ordered target-object data and said trajectory-ordered track data therein. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A radar surveillance method comprising:
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receiving radar scan data from at least one radar device, said radar scan data being generated during repeated 3D scans of a substantial preselected volume, said radar scan data pertaining to numerous target objects within said volume; organizing and storing said radar scan data in the form of time-ordered track data in a first database; organizing and storing said radar scan data in the form of spatial-ordered track data in a second database; and accessing or enabling selective access to said first database and said second database, thereby facilitating spatial-temporal activity reports generation. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54)
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Specification