Numerical Simulation and Experimental Analysis of Small Drone Rotor Blade Polarimetry Based on RCS and Micro-Doppler Signature

Abstract

Detecting and tracking small drones is significant for security requirements, but is challenging since small drones typically have a low radar cross section (RCS), small size, and hovering ability. Polarimetric analysis of returned radio wave is of great significance in detection and track of small drones. In this letter, the polarimetric analysis based on RCS and micro-Doppler signature of small drone rotor blade is first studied in VHF/UHF band. Both the simulated and measured RCS results confirm that the horizontal–horizontal polarization is preferred for drone detection in low-altitude angles at this frequency band. Moreover, the method of moments, a rigorous numerical method based on integral equation, is implemented to simulate the micro-Doppler signature generated by the rotating blade in VHF/UHF band. The results show that it is feasible to obtain the rotating speed from the micro-Doppler measurement, which is also verified by the experiment.