Full polarimetric millimetre wave radar for stand-off security screening

Eddie Blackhurst; Neil Salmon; Matthew Southgate

doi:10.1117/12.2282564

6 October 2017 Full polarimetric millimetre wave radar for stand-off security screening

Eddie Blackhurst, Neil Salmon, Matthew Southgate

Proceedings Volume 10439, Millimetre Wave and Terahertz Sensors and Technology X; 1043906 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2282564
Event: SPIE Security + Defence, 2017, Warsaw, Poland

Abstract

The development and measurements are described of a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) mono-static millimetre wave full polarimetric radar, operating at k-band (18 to 26 GHz). The system has been designed to explore the feasibility of using full polarimetry for the detection of concealed weapons, and person borne improvised explosive devices (PBIED). The philosophy of this scheme is a means to extract the maximum information content from a target which is normally in the single spatial pixel (sometimes sub-pixel) configuration in stand-off (tens of metres) and crowd surveillance scenarios. The radar comprises a vector network analyser (VNA), an orthomode transducer and a conical horn antenna. A calibration strategy is discussed and demonstrated using a variety of known calibration targets with known reflective properties, including a flat metal plate, dihedral reflector, metal sphere, helix and dipole. The orthomode transducer is based on a high performance linear polarizer of the turnstile type with isolation better than - 35dB between orthogonal polarisations. The calibration enables the polarimetric Sinclair scattering matrix to be measured at each frequency for coherent polarimetry, and this can be extended using multiple measurements via the Kennaugh matrix to investigate incoherent full polarimetry.

Citation Download Citation

Eddie Blackhurst, Neil Salmon, and Matthew Southgate "Full polarimetric millimetre wave radar for stand-off security screening", Proc. SPIE 10439, Millimetre Wave and Terahertz Sensors and Technology X, 1043906 (6 October 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2282564

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