Evaluation of a “Stereo” Radar Approach for Terrain Reconstruction Using Synthetic Data

Abstract

Enhanced vision systems (EVS) are a possibility to improve the situation awareness of an aircrew during poor visibility conditions. EVS are based on sensor data which might be difficult to interpret especially for radar data. Fast scanning radar systems in the millimeter waveband (35 or 94 GHz) are commonly unable to measure the elevation of a target. Nevertheless these elevation data can sometimes be reconstructed from a series of images or from images taken from different viewpoints or bank angles. In case of forward looking millimeter wave radar it is more promising to use different bank angles. The authors have detailed these ideas using the term “Stereo Radar” in previous publications. In this paper we take a closer look at the accuracy and the resolution of the algorithm. For this a series of experiments using synthetic data is performed. Furthermore we show the influence of size, elevation, shape, and different (radar) textures of a target on the reconstructed elevation. Finally some tests are carried out to demonstrate the robustness against different kinds of noise.