Method and system for detecting ground obstacles from an airborne platform
First Claim
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1. A method for detecting ground obstacles from an airborne platform comprising:
- illuminating a whole field of view of interest with an electromagnetic wave in a range of 0.1 to 100 GHz using a transmit antenna;
receiving data from echoes obtained from the whole field of view of interest using multiple antenna elements;
transforming, using a detection system comprising a processor, the data from the echoes into a digital signal for each of the multiple antenna elements;
combining, the detection system, the digital signals simultaneously in order to obtain simultaneously multiple beams covering the whole field of view of interest using spatial transformation processing;
filtering, using the detection system, each beam in parallel utilizing a range and velocity filtering procedure over a long integration time so that a given ground obstacle is observed at different distances over the integration time;
applying, using the detection system, on each filtered beam a detection process, wherein the detection process utilizes a threshold on amplitude to detect potential ground obstacles; and
discriminating, using the detection system, the ground obstacles from the potential ground obstacles in a range velocity diagram based on a velocity of the airborne platform and a height or elevation of the ground obstacles, wherein the height or elevation of a ground obstacle constitutes a specific signature in terms of both a relative velocity and a relative distance, wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given range corresponds to a specific relative velocity which is distinct from that of ground obstacles at a same range and having a lower height or elevation, and wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given relative velocity corresponds to a specific range which is distinct from that of ground obstacles having a same relative velocity and a lower height or elevation.
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Abstract
This method for detecting ground obstacles from an airborne platform comprises:
- a step of illuminating the whole field of view of interest with an electromagnetic wave in the range of 0.1 to 100 GHz;
- a step of receiving the echoes with multiple antenna elements from the whole field of interest and of transforming said echoes into a digital signal per antenna element;
- a step of combining said digital signals simultaneously in order to obtain simultaneously multiple beams;
- a step of Range and Velocity filtering each beam in parallel;
- a step of applying on each filtered beam a detection process using a threshold on amplitude to detect potential ground obstacles; and
- a step of discriminating said ground obstacles from said potential ground obstacles due to their specific signature in terms of both relative velocity and distance using velocity of the airborne platform.
41 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for detecting ground obstacles from an airborne platform comprising:
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illuminating a whole field of view of interest with an electromagnetic wave in a range of 0.1 to 100 GHz using a transmit antenna; receiving data from echoes obtained from the whole field of view of interest using multiple antenna elements; transforming, using a detection system comprising a processor, the data from the echoes into a digital signal for each of the multiple antenna elements; combining, the detection system, the digital signals simultaneously in order to obtain simultaneously multiple beams covering the whole field of view of interest using spatial transformation processing; filtering, using the detection system, each beam in parallel utilizing a range and velocity filtering procedure over a long integration time so that a given ground obstacle is observed at different distances over the integration time; applying, using the detection system, on each filtered beam a detection process, wherein the detection process utilizes a threshold on amplitude to detect potential ground obstacles; and discriminating, using the detection system, the ground obstacles from the potential ground obstacles in a range velocity diagram based on a velocity of the airborne platform and a height or elevation of the ground obstacles, wherein the height or elevation of a ground obstacle constitutes a specific signature in terms of both a relative velocity and a relative distance, wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given range corresponds to a specific relative velocity which is distinct from that of ground obstacles at a same range and having a lower height or elevation, and wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given relative velocity corresponds to a specific range which is distinct from that of ground obstacles having a same relative velocity and a lower height or elevation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 18)
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10. A detecting system for detecting ground obstacles from an airborne platform comprising:
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a transmit antenna configured to illuminate a whole field of view of interest with an electromagnetic wave in a range of 0.1 to 100 GHz; multiple antenna elements configured to receive echoes from the whole field of view of interest and means for transforming the echoes into a digital signal for each of the multiple antenna elements; means for combining the digital signals simultaneously in order to obtain simultaneously multiple beams covering the whole field of view of interest using spatial transformation processing; filtering means for range and velocity filtering each beam in parallel over a long integration time so that a given ground obstacle is observed at different distances over the integration time; detection means for applying on each filtered beam a detection process using a threshold on amplitude to detect potential ground obstacles; and discriminating means for discriminating the ground obstacles from the potential ground obstacles in a range velocity diagram based on a velocity of the airborne platform and a height or elevation of the ground obstacles, wherein the height or elevation of a ground obstacle constitutes a specific signature in terms of both relative velocity and relative distance, wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given range corresponds to a specific relative velocity which is distinct from that of ground obstacles at a same range and having a lower height or elevation, and wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given relative velocity corresponds to a specific range which is distinct from that of ground obstacles having a same relative velocity and a lower height or elevation. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A detecting system for detecting ground obstacles from an airborne platform comprising:
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a transmit antenna configured to illuminate a whole field of view of interest with an electromagnetic wave in a range of 0.1 to 100 GHz; multiple antenna elements configured to receive echoes from the whole field of view of interest; a conversion device configured to transform the echoes into a digital signal for each of the multiple antenna elements; a combining device configured to combine the digital signals simultaneously in order to obtain simultaneously multiple beams covering the whole field of view of interest using spatial transformation processing; a filtering device configured to filter the data utilizing a range and velocity filtering process for each beam in parallel over a long integration time so that a given ground obstacle is observed at different distances over the integration time; a detection device configured to apply on each filtered beam a detection process using a threshold on amplitude to detect potential ground obstacles; and a discriminating device configured to discriminate the ground obstacles from the potential ground obstacles in a range velocity diagram based on a velocity of the airborne platform and a height or elevation of the ground obstacles, wherein the height or elevation of a ground obstacle constitutes a specific signature in terms of both relative velocity and relative distance, wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given range corresponds to a specific relative velocity which is distinct from that of ground obstacles at a same range and having a lower height or elevation, and wherein the height or elevation of an obstacle at a given relative velocity corresponds to a specific range which is distinct from that of ground obstacles having a same relative velocity and a lower height or elevation. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification