Alignment and beam spreading for ground radial airborne radar
First Claim
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1. A radar system comprising:
- an antenna, said antenna producing a radar beam intersecting a ground plane to form an isogain line on said ground plane, said ground plane including a plurality of ground radial lines radiating from an origin point on said ground plane, said origin point being related to a navigational position of said radar system with respect to said ground plane, said isogain line having a corresponding ground radial line; and
beam steering means for controlling said antenna and for adjusting said radar beam to closely align said isogain line with said corresponding ground radial line to facilitate scan conversion to a television display format.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling a radar beam emitted by a radar sym. The invention produces improved high resolution ground mapping by aligning the antenna isogain or isonull lines with the ground radial lines. The antenna axis is rolled by an angle determined from the geometric principles of the unit vectors along the ground radial lines. A new azimuth pointing angle is then computed and implemented. A new azimuth beamshape, azimuth beamwidth and azimuth beam spoiling factor are also computed and implemented.
31 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A radar system comprising:
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an antenna, said antenna producing a radar beam intersecting a ground plane to form an isogain line on said ground plane, said ground plane including a plurality of ground radial lines radiating from an origin point on said ground plane, said origin point being related to a navigational position of said radar system with respect to said ground plane, said isogain line having a corresponding ground radial line; and beam steering means for controlling said antenna and for adjusting said radar beam to closely align said isogain line with said corresponding ground radial line to facilitate scan conversion to a television display format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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- 4. A method of controlling an antenna of a radar system having both an azimuth axis and elevation axis wherein said antenna produces a radar beam intersecting a ground plane to form an isogain line on said ground plane, said ground plane including a plurality of ground radial lines radiating from an origin point on said ground plane, said origin point being related to a navigational position of said radar system with respect to said ground plane, said isogain line having a corresponding ground radial line, wherein said method comprises the step of steering said radar beam by rotating the antenna azimuth and elevation axes to closely align said isogain line with said corresponding ground radial line to facilitate scan conversion to a television display format.
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19. A radar system operating in monopulse ground mapping mode comprising:
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an antenna, said antenna producing at least one radar beam, each such radar beam intersecting a ground plane to form an isonull line on said ground plane, said ground plane including a plurality of ground radial lines radiating from an origin point on said ground plane, said origin point being related to a navigational position of said radar system with respect to said ground plane, said isonull line having a corresponding ground radial line; and beam steering means for controlling said antenna and for adjusting said radar beam to closely align said isonull line with said corresponding ground radial line to facilitate scan conversion to a television display format. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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- 22. A method of controlling an antenna of an radar system operating in monopulse ground mapping mode wherein said antenna produces at least one radar beam, each such radar beam having an azimuth and elevation beamshape, each such radar beam intersecting a ground plane to form an isonull line on said ground plane, said ground plane including a plurality of ground radial lines radiating from an origin point on said ground plane, said origin point being related to a navigational position of said radar system with respect to said ground plane, said isonull line having a corresponding ground radial line, wherein said method comprises the step of steering said radar beam to closely align said isonull line with said corresponding ground radial line to facilitate scan conversion to a television display format.
Specification