Enhanced Imagery Using Spectral-Estimation-Based Techniques

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, Lincoln Laboratory has been working on algorithms to enhance the resolution of imagery from wideband radars. This article describes a class of algorithms that are based on the technique of bandwidth extrapolation, which uses a model-based spectral-estimation technique for generating synthetic radar data. The extrapolated radar data are combined with the measured radar data in a Fourier transform to produce images with high spectral resolution. The article describes the application of these algorithms to measured radar data from a small commercial aircraft in flight.