Device and method for 3D sampling with avian radar

• US 9,291,707 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2012
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accipiter Radar Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: Accipiter Radar Technologies Inc.
• Inventors: Nohara, Timothy J., Weber, Peter T., Ukrainec, Andrew M., Premji, Al-Nasir, Jones, Graeme S., Costa, Nelson, Beason, Robert C.
• Primary Examiner(s): GREGORY, BERNARR E
• Application Number:
  US13/606,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20150204973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• Field of Search: 342/27, 342/28, 342 73- 81, 342/89, 342 94- 97, 342104-115, 342/118, 342/146, 342/147, 342/158, 342/175, 342192-197, 342 29- 51, 342/59, 342/21, 342/22, 342188-191, 342176-183, 701/1, 701/120, 701/116, 701/119, 701/400, 701/408, 701/514, 707/609, 707/674, 707/678, 707/679
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/426 Scanning radar, e.g. 3D radar G01S13/66 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/58 Velocity or trajectory determination systems; Sense-of-movement determination systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/72 for two-dimensional tracking, e.g. combination of angle and range tracking, track-while-scan radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/726 Multiple target tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/88 Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/411 Identification of targets based on measurements of radar reflectivity G01S7/415 takes precedence

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.

Claims

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.

2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said track database includes a radar data server configured to organize and store, in time-ordered form, track data from said at least one volume-scanning radar device, said track database further including a geographical data server operatively connected to said radar data server and configured to organize and store, in spatial-ordered form, track data from said radar data server.

3. The system defined in claim 2 wherein said airborne-target activity illustrator is part of a target analytics processor, said target analytics processor being also configured to compute one or more statistical measures of track data on the fly.

4. The system defined in claim 3 wherein said target analytics processor is particularly configured in part to compute one or more statistical measures of spatially ordered track data on the fly.

5. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said volume-scanning radar device has an antenna and driving elements operatively linked to said antenna for rotating said antenna rapidly in azimuth and slowly in elevation.

6. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said volume-scanning radar has an antenna with a rapid rotation in elevation and a slow change in azimuth.

7. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said volume-scanning radar device includes drive elements operatively connected to said antenna for moving same in a scan pattern, said volume-scanning radar device further including a digital radar processor that is operatively connected to said drive elements for controlling the scan pattern, said digital radar processor being software configured to enable a modification of said scan pattern according to sampling requirements.

8. The system defined in claim 7 wherein said digital radar processor is configured to use updates from a global positioning system, as to the position of an unmanned aerial system, to provide elevation control to said antenna to follow the unmanned aerial system and to provide a continuous, protective surveillance volume around the unmanned aerial system, said track data including track data specific to all general aviation aircraft and birds that may potentially come into conflict with the unmanned aerial system.

9. The system defined in claim 7 wherein said scan pattern includes a rate of change of elevation of said antenna, said digital radar processor being configured to change said rate of change according to sampling requirements.

10. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said activity reports include attributes of bird abundance and behavior at selected locations over selected time-intervals.

11. The system defined in claim 10 wherein said attributes comprise statistics about bird numbers, locations, altitudes, RCS, speeds, headings, and velocities.

12. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said activity reports include a combination of text, charts, graphs, tables, images, and drawings.

13. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said activity reports include an activity information layer overlaid on a geographic background map, said layer including indicators taken from the group consisting of colors, shadings, patterns, contours, lines, arrows, symbols (2D and 3D), numbers, and text.

14. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said database and said illustrator are configured to form an airborne-target track interpretation engine.

15. The system defined in claim 14 wherein said engine is GIS-based.

16. A method of sampling the abundance and behavior of airborne targets, comprising:

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.

17. The method defined in claim 16 wherein said operating and varying comprises operating a volume-scanning radar pursuant to a scanning protocol that produces a periodic sampling of a large volume.

18. The method defined in claim 17 wherein the operating of said volume-scanning radar includes executing multiple scans along one coordinate direction for each single scan along another coordinate direction.

19. The method defined in claim 16 wherein said collecting and organizing and accessing comprise writing to and querying one or more databases having a portion containing said temporally ordered track information and a portion containing said spatially ordered track information.

20. The method defined in claim 16 wherein said operating, varying, accessing and creating are in accordance with end-user requests and specifications.

21. The method defined in claim 16, further comprising distributing said reports to end-users over a network.

22. The method defined in claim 16, further comprising accessing said organized temporally ordered track information and said spatially ordered track information to detect hazards or situations of interest in accordance with end-user requests and specifications, also comprising automatically notifying or alerting end-users in real time of the detected hazards or situations of interest.

23. The method defined in claim 16, further comprising filtering said organized temporally ordered track information and said spatially ordered track information according to one or more specific bird attributes each taken from the group consisting of bird abundance, density, locations, altitudes, speeds, headings, velocities and RCS.

24. The method defined in claim 16 wherein said bird behavior includes bird density, locations, altitudes, speeds, headings, velocities and RCS.

25. The method defined in claim 16 wherein said radar system includes at least two radar subsystems proximate to one another, said varying comprising operating said at least two radar subsystems so that each radar subsystem illuminates a different said sub-volume.

26. The method defined in claim 16 wherein the operating of said radar system to illuminate sub-volumes includes operating two or more 2D azimuth-rotating single-beam radar systems operating side-by-side at different fixed elevation angles.

27. The method defined in claim 16 wherein the operating of said radar system to illuminate sub-volumes includes operating two or more 2D elevation-rotating single-beam radar systems operating side-by-side at different fixed azimuth angles.

28. The method defined in claim 16 wherein the operating of said radar system to illuminate sub-volumes includes operating one or more 2D azimuth-rotating single-beam radar systems operating side-by-side with one or more 2D elevation-rotating single-beam radar systems.

29. The method defined in claim 16 wherein said activity reports include near-term activity reports to highlight developing hazardous situations, further comprising providing real-time track display information to enable the locating and directing of responses to particular hazardous situations.

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.

31. The apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein said GDS is configured to receive radar target data from said DRPs in real-time.

32. The apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein said TAP is configured to execute queries on said RDS and GDS and to generate airborne-target activity reports incorporating up-to-date or current radar target data, periodically or in response to requests from said users.

33. The apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein said TAP is configured to publish said activity reports on a Web server for Intranet or Internet access by said users.

34. A method of track interpretation for the timely delivery of airborne-target activity reports, comprising:

receiving target data from an airborne-target radar;

immediately storing said data in a relational SQL database in a time-based form, said database structured for temporal activity report queries;

re-organizing the stored data of said time-based form into a GIS-based form, said GIS-based form being structured to facilitate spatial activity report queries; and

storing the re-organized data in said GIS-based form.

35. The method defined in claim 34 wherein the re-organizing of the stored data into said GIS-based form includes generating target-object trajectory or spatial track data.

36. The method defined in claim 35 wherein the re-organizing of the stored data into said GIS-based form further includes indexing additional target object data to said trajectory or spatial track data, said additional data taken from the group consisting of speed, direction, RCS and altitude data.

37. The method defined in claim 34, further comprising receiving queries requesting access to target data, and selectively providing access to time-based data in said database and data in said GIS-based form, in accordance with temporal and geographical components of the requested target data.

38. A volume-scanning device comprising:

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.

39. A method of volume scanning for airborne targets comprising:

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.

40. A method of monitoring airborne targets, comprising:

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.

41. The method in claim 40 wherein the operating of said second scanning radar apparatus comprises 3D airborne-target sampling.

42. The method in claim 40 wherein the operating of said second scanning radar apparatus comprises additional priority coverage in real time.

43. The method in claim 40 wherein the operating of said second scanning radar apparatus comprises providing altitude estimates and RCS estimates by scanning through said airborne targets in elevation and employing centroiding and interpolation techniques.

44. The method in claim 40 wherein the operating of said second scanning radar apparatus comprises operating in a follower mode on a designated airborne target of interest.

45. The method in claim 40 wherein the operating of said second scanning radar apparatus comprises operating said multi-function dual-axis second scanning radar apparatus in different modes at different times or under user control.

46. Radar system componentry for use in surveillance of a substantial 3D volume over an extended period, said componentry comprising:

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,

wherein said processor is a geographical data processor, further comprising a radar data processor operatively linked to said geographical data processor for providing said time-ordered track data thereto, said radar data processor being operatively connectable to one or more scanning radar devices for receiving radar data therefrom, said radar data processor being configured to organize and store said radar data as said time-ordered track data.

47. The radar system componentry defined in claim 46, further comprising a target analytics processor operatively connected to said radar data processor and said geographical data processor for accessing said time-ordered track data and said spatial-ordered track data and to generate activity reports selectively utilizing same in response to user requests.

48. The radar system componentry defined in claim 46 wherein said trajectory-ordered track data stored in said database includes a time element that has a secondary status at most.

49. The radar system componentry defined in claim 48 wherein said time element is included by indexing.

50. The radar system componentry defined in claim 46 wherein said target-object data includes information taken from the group consisting of direction, speed, velocity, target cross-section (RCS), and altitude, in a statistical attribute format in easy-to-search indexed or tabular form.

51. A radar surveillance method comprising:

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 relational SQL database, said first relational SQL database structured for temporal activity report queries;

organizing and storing said radar scan data in the form of spatial-ordered track data in a second relational SQL database, said second database structured for spatial activity report queries; and

accessing or enabling selective access to said first database and said second relational SQL database in accordance with temporal and geographical components of requested target data, thereby facilitating spatial-temporal activity reports generation.

52. The method defined in claim 51 wherein said spatial-ordered track data includes trajectory-ordered track data pertaining to respective target objects, said trajectory-ordered track data encoding trajectories that extend in space.

53. The method defined in claim 51 wherein said first relational SQL database and said second relational SQL database are parts of a single composite database.

54. The method defined in claim 51, further comprising generating spatial-temporal activity reports in response to incoming queries and making said reports available to sources of the respective queries.

55. The method defined in claim 51, further comprising organizing the time-ordered track data in said first relational SQL database and the spatial-ordered track data in said second relational SQL database and so that the time-ordered track data and the spatial-ordered track data can be efficiently queried at the same time as new track data are being stored.