Joint time-frequency transform for radar range-Doppler imaging

Abstract

Conventional radar imaging uses the Fourier transform to retrieve Doppler information. However, due to the complex motion of a target, the Doppler frequency shifts are actually time-varying. By using the Fourier transform, the Doppler spectrum becomes smeared and the image is blurred. Without resorting to sophisticated motion compensation algorithms, the image blurring problem can be resolved with the joint time-frequency transform. High-resolution time-frequency transforms are investigated, and examples of applications to radar imaging of single and multiple targets with complex motion are given.