FOPEN Radar for UGS Applications

Sergio Gallone
Selex Sistemi Integrati, Roma, Italy sgallone@selex-si.com wavelength, lower frequencies such as those in the VHF and UHF bands (30MHz - 1000MHz) may be suitable for FOPEN radar applications [2,3,6]. FOPEN SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) systems started to be used in the early 1990s. They are usually mounted on manned or unmanned aircraft and mainly address illegal activity control and search&rescue operations. However the use of airborne platforms to perform surveillance, can be used for missions on spot because it is not practical or cost/effective for continuous surveillance.

Abstract The very short range detection devices are the basic elements of Homeland protection and Homeland security systems. The Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) are widely used to protect critical area and for border surveillance, in open area perimeters. FOliage PENetrating (FOPEN) radar are needed when the areas or the borders to control are located inside the forest or jungle, in both northern borders or equatorial locations. In this paper a Ground Moving Target (GMT) radar, working at UHF frequencies, battery operated, is presented together with the requirements and the performances obtained. Keywords: FOPEN, UGS, GMT, LPI, SUF, low power.

3. Effects of the environment In dense foliage environments the main clutter effects are the backscatter and the attenuation. Backscatter The fixed clutter returns can have a DC component (zero Doppler) raising up to 60-70 dB above the noise level and the spectra amplitude and shape do not have large variations with frequency, but they depend mainly on the wind [5]. Considering the measurement reported in [5] of the backscatter Doppler spectra, in order to perform efficient clutter rejection, two values of thresholds can be used: i.e. 1m/s in case of light air, 2m/s in case of windy/gale. Attenuation The attenuation depends mainly on the frequency used and the grazing angle, even if small variations are reported with different polarization [3]. Many studies have been carried out for SAR application and several studies report data for attenuation measured directly at ground level [3,4,6]. The total attenuation, taking in account the major effects of the environment for a ground radar, can be summarized as follows:

1. Introduction The surveillance of critical perimeters is one of the most important issues in Homeland defence and Homeland protection systems. The ground surveillance needs are relevant to border protection applications (hidden immigration, illegal traffic, narcotraffic), but include also small areas protection (critical infrastructure, military/civilian posts) that can be fixed or mobile. The attention is for sensors able to operate in critical environment, such as forest or jungle domains, and many studies have been performed, in this direction, mainly using aerial platform equipped with SAR. The focus is now for ground based systems and/or sensors with capabilities to detect walking personnel and moving vehicles. Logistics constraints drive the technology to very low power devices, that are able to operate for several months or years, without maintenance. Another important issue is, together with a good probability of detection, the low false alarm probability, that is requested to be lowered up to 1 false alarm per day, or lower, even in presence of specific weather conditions (rain, wind) and/or local seasonal fauna. 2. Background Fixed radars for border control are usually in X, Ku band, but, because of the attenuation they suffer from foliage, they can not be used for FOPEN applications. The ability of traditional microwave radars in operating in an environment with dense foliage is severely limited by foliage backscatter and attenuation of microwave frequencies through foliage [1]. As attenuation falls with increasing
___________________________________ 978-1-4244-8443-0/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

L t = Lr Lh L f
where:

Lr =

distance R,

(4R )

2 2

is the attenuation due to

ground reflection at the heights of the antenna (hr) and the target (ht), for the wavelength ,

hh L h = 4 t r is the attenuation due to the R



Lf is the attenuation due to the foliage: it depends on the distance, the polarization and the forest type. It depends also on the distribution of the trees and the diameter of the musts, that can limit the line of sight, together with the height and density of lower canopy level.

If the sensors are installed in remote areas, the unattended operation camouflage and low probability of detection are usually mandatory.

Camouflage The camouflage is easily realized considering that the sensors lie on ground in the forest together with plants and small trees. The antenna and the electronics at the basement can be concealed, for example, with synthetic plant, Dracaena like (Tree of happiness) .

Other effects that increase the losses in propagation are not taken in account, at the moment, and will be addressed in future studies. 4. Surveillance Unattended FOPEN Radar In this section the Surveillance Unattended FOPEN (SUF) radar is presented. 4.1. System requirements/constraints

LPI capabilities In this document, the LPI is considered the capability not to be detected before the target is detected: the power level at the range of the detection should not trigger a ESM device. In tab. 2 the power budget is reported, for a ESM, with a sensitivity of -80dBm, and it shows enough margin for the range up to 100 meters.

The main requirements/constraints addressed are the followings: The range of the detections is reduced by: o The attenuation due to foliage, o The low antenna height, that is limited to 1-2 meters for logistic purposes, The power consumption must be kept at minimum level (several tens of mW), also considering that photovoltaic cell are not suitable for installation on the ground in the forest, As consequence of the previous point the emitted power must be kept at a level of several mW, Camouflage (concealable) and anti-tamper are often required, Very low cost is a mandatory requirement Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) capabilities Targets of interest include walking personnel and moving vehicles 4.2. System description The SUF radar operates at UHF frequencies, that offer a good compromise between the foliage penetration capability and the antenna dimension. The FMCW configuration permits a combination of a simple low power transmitter together with simplified receiver and A/D conversion circuits. The Doppler resolution is of 0.5m/s or better (depending on the duration of the CPI). The CFAR processing is performed in range and Doppler, and low Doppler clutter maps are computed. The detection decision function uses different thresholds, both in Doppler and amplitude, to reduce the false alarm rate even if the weather condition changes. Dedicated algorithms are used in the extraction function to further reduce the probability of false alarms. The detections extracted are sent, via the transmission link, to the master stations for subsequent elaboration (i.e. data combining) and/or operator display. The information of the detections (range, Doppler and amplitude) are combined with the information of the neighbour radar to extract the absolute position of the targets, if required. The main characteristics of the radar are shown in tab.1.

Cluster operation The sensors operates in cluster, and they are connected via a low power RF link, operating at UHF. The data of the SUF radar can be combined with the data of other UGS sensors (infrared, acoustic, seismic), or connected to an existing network, to perform a more reliable detection system. In fig.1 an example of sensors network is reported. As shown, adjacent sensor nodes are connected together and the information are sent, to the master station, via the short range radio link; the master station performs data fusion and medium range connection with the other master stations, or the Command and Control centre. In case of long range connection the master stations are connected via radio link repeaters or satellite connections.

4.1. System performances The radar performances, summarized in tab. 3, are reported assuming an example of site operation as follows: The antenna height is 1 meter People walking target has a RCS of 1 sqm and a speed of 1.5m/s, calm air condition The total attenuation loss of the foliage is 24 dB, for 100m. Table 1. SUF radar characteristics Parameter Frequency band Instantaneous BW Transmitter type Azimuth BW Radar cell Power supply Value UHF 7.5-15MHz FMCW 360 deg 10-20m 20 or 200 W/h battery pack



management) can be mitigated by the use of photovoltaic cells and/or different antenna installations.

References Table 2. LPI power budget Parameter EIRP Range Loss (100m) Height Loss Foliage loss (/4)2 Tot. level ESM Sensitivity Margin Level +4dBm -40dB -12dB -12dB -24dB -84dBm -80dBm 4dB [1] B. T. Binder, M. F. Toups, S. Ayasli, and E. M. Adams, SAR Foliage Penetration Phenomenology of Tropical Rain Forest and Northern U.S. Forest, Radar Conference, 1995., Record of the IEEE 1995 International, 8-11 May 1995 pp 158 163. [2] Y. Lu, Y. Cheng, W. Liu, H. W. Seah, H. L. Chan, L. C. Tai', M. Lesturgie, P. Borderies, R. Guern2, Low Frequency Radar Phenomenology Study in Equatorial Vegetation Preliminary Results, Radar Conference 2002, 15-17 Oct. 2002 pp: 70. [3] M. E. Davis, Developments In Foliage Penetration Radar Radar Conference 2010 IEEE, 10-14 May 2010 pp: 1233, Washington. [4] M. N. Roy, S. Swamp, R. K. Tewari, Radio Wave Propagation Through Rain Forests of India, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 38, no. 4, April 1990 [5] J. B. Billingsley, Low-Angle Radar Land Clutter, SciTech. Pub. Inc., 2001, New York [6] M. E. Davis, Foliage Penetration Radar: Detection and Characterization of Objects Under Trees, SciTech. Pub. Inc., NY, 2011, New York

Table 3. SUF radar performances Parameter Maximum range Range accuracy Doppler filter resolution Update interval Detection range Value 300m 3m <0.5m/s 1 second 50-100m walking people 75-150m moving vehicle

Fig.1. Sensors network

5. Conclusions In this paper the basic characteristics of the SUF radar, used for detection of moving targets, people or vehicles, in dense forest environment have been considered. The presented sensor is used in cluster, connected with other sensors, employed in virtual fences to be used for border control or for critical infrastructure protection. Even if the work presented is referred to the forest environment, the described sensor is suitable to operate also in different installations, considering, for example, riverside or sea harbour protection applications; in these cases the different environmental conditions get better the radar performances; in addition, several other constraints (for example the power