Two-Sensor Synthetic Aperture Geolocation Techniques

Geolocation technology with the ability to locate an unknown beacon signal in three-dimensional space has been engrafted into numerous modern electronic systems. Indeed, the marketplace is anxious for more accurate and more accessible geolocation data. A primary limiting factor of the growth of geolocation systems is the stringent physical resource requirements needed for existing geolocation algorithms. Popular geolocation algorithms measure the time-of-arrival, time-difference-of-arrival, and frequency-difference-of-arrival of an incoming beacon signal from an unknown emitter at a given time. For these techniques, accurate solutions require a minimum of three airborne sensors; if available, a fourth sensor often significantly improves the accuracy. This resource requirement is excessive; we aim to relax it to two airborne sensors by applying a synthetic aperture technique. By fusing together data from multiple subsequent time samples, one can boost the overall resolution of the geolocation estimate. We propose using a series of geolocation measurements collected between two sensors according to a synthetic aperture model. System performance dependence on sensor velocity and aperture size is assessed. Additionally, a brief treatment of noise tolerance and estimation theory is given. Lastly, the overall feasibility of a synthetic-aperture-based geolocation algorithm is summarily addressed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Elam, Kyle A.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Su, Weilian

Statement dc:rights

• This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/66889

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/66889