Feasibility of Passive Bistatic Radar for Glacier Tomography
Open Access
- Author:
- Nayyar, Nikhil
- Area of Honors:
- Electrical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Julio V. Urbina, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- ground penetrating
passive bistatic radar
glacier tomography
illuminator of opportunity
radar - Abstract:
- Passive Bistatic Radar, or PBR, is a specific radar methodology that makes use of ambient electromagnetic noise dubbed the Illuminator of Opportunity, or IO. The advantage for such a radar system is the removal of a transmitter on the operator's end, easing constraints for mobility and power. The technique was developed in the mid-20th century, shortly after the advent of active radar technologies, but only recently regained interest as an area of research due to advances in digital signal processing techniques and in increased computational speeds for processing. So far, the more recent work has focused on PBR for object detection; however, this paper seeks to evaluate the feasibility of using PBR for glacial tomography. The major concerns for understanding whether this application merits future investment is a characterization of the PBR system with the specific tomographic geometry and an evaluation of ambient power available based on IO locations. To answer this question, this work develops a model for the ray theory of light in a PBR glacial configuration. It then characterizes the ambient power levels for three different IO's (AM radio, FM radio, DVBT) based on federally regulated levels. The findings are compared to determine the feasibility of such a methodology.