Multi-channel Terahertz ViSAR Motion Target
Indication Based on ATI Technique
Sun Wei, He Kunxi, Ye Zhenyu, Sun Jinping
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China
bhswaction@126.com, 168235774@qq.com, victor_ye@foxmail.com, sunjinping@buaa.edu.cn
Abstract: Terahertz Video Synthetic Aperture Radar (ViSAR)
system can indicate target information continuously and
actively with an image frame rate as high as infrared video,
having advantages such as high resolution and good sensitivity
in target motion detection. However, terahertz wavelength is
rather short, and as a result, traditional dual-channel SAR
motion target indication method gets a tiny blind velocity
period which goes against target detection. Aimed at the
problem, this paper provides a multi-channel terahertz ViSAR
motion target detection method based on along track
interferometry (ATI) technique. It selects several baselines of
varying length and utilizes algebra coprime theory to enlarge
blind velocity period so that the range of non-ambiguity
velocity can be extended. Simulation results verify the
effectiveness of the method.
Keywords: terahertz; ViSAR; motion target indication; ATI;
multi-channel
I. INTRODUCTION
Conventional airborne SAR can image stationary scene and
with help of ground motion target indication (GMTI) technique,
it can also implement target detection and location. However,
due to long accumulation time as well as slow imaging frame
rate, it can’t track specific motion target thus is incapable of
military requirements like maneuver warfare and quick
response.
ViSAR can overcome the problems above and has become a
research hotspot in recent years [1-3]. To achieve high frame
imaging rate of observation areas, ViSAR system chooses high
frequency carrier. Ranging from 0.1THz to 10 THz, terahertz
can realize high signal bandwidth and penetrates atmospheric
clouds and dust haze. With all-weather and all-time capability,
terahertz ViSAR system can indicate motion target information
successively and actively like infrared video, having
advantages such as high resolution, good sensitivity in target
motion detection and thus shows a broad application prospect.
To support GMTI function, ViSAR system includes several
antennas so that it can detect, track and even relocate motion
targets like people or vehicles. Compared with traditional
waveband SAR system such as X band, the antennas of
terahertz ViSAR have a smaller level in size, weight and power
consumption, and hence it’s easier to achieve integrated
installation of several antennas on the platform when
performing GMTI and velocity measurement. In other words,
terahertz ViSAR system can decrease the volume of antennas
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grants No. 61471019).
while improving significantly the frame rate, so that it can
realize the optimal SWAP (Size Weight and Power) design and
be applied to unmanned aerial vehicle [6, 7].
ATI technique can extract height or position difference
information from many observations of a same ground area,
and thus be used to get 3D radar images of ground target or
eliminate the echoes of stationary targets [8, 9]. Dual-channel
SAR/ATI is a typical clutter suppression method. However,
because of the rather short wavelength, dual-channel terahertz
system presents a small blind velocity period which equals
dense blind velocity points, and as a result, when performing
motion target detection the unambiguous velocity is so small
that both the estimation of range velocity and the target
location are influenced. This paper focuses on the problem and
provides a multi-channel terahertz ViSAR motion target
detection method based on ATI technique. In multi-channel
ATI system with several antennas of varying length, according
to the algebra coprime theory, the system blind velocity period
can be enlarged and thus the detectable unambiguous velocity
range expanded. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of
the proposed method.
II. ATI OPERATING PRINCIPLE
Typical dual-channel ATI method puts two antennas that
receive echo signals at the same time along the flight path. A
motion target can be detected by calculating the interferometric
phase of two SAR image data scanned from a same scene.
Z
v
B d A
t 0
H r22 (t) r12 (t)
rc o ro Y
r11(t)
vY
P ( x0 , y0 , 0)
vX
X
Fig. 1. Dual-channel ATI geometry
Figure 1 illustrates the geometry of a dual-channel ATI system.
Consider that the aircraft flies along a linear trajectory parallel
to the Y-axis at constant velocity v , and that one ground
target moves at range velocity vx and azimuth velocity v y . The
radar operates with side-looking configuration. Denoting the In the slant-range plane, interferometric phase is expressed as
slow time in azimuth direction by t , at t 0 , the aircraft is 'M 4S vr d Ov , where vr is radial velocity. when it’s
at (0,0, H ) , the motion target locates at ( x0 , y0 ,0) , and the transformed to ground range velocity, a certain angle relation
distance between them is r0 . Two antennas A and B are need to be multiplied.
mounted along the trajectory, separated by a baseline d . In complex image domain, the compressed signal energy being
Forward antenna A sends linear frequency modulation signal more focused, signal to interference ratio SIR is further
while both antenna A and B receive simultaneously the echo improved and thus detection performance is effectively
signals. promoted. If the antenna distance satisfies d / 2v m / prf ,
Considering speed of light is much faster, the motion of aircraft channel calibration can be achieved by delaying one channel
during the echo return period can be ignored. The distances signal by a particular time, otherwise it can be done by image
between antenna A and the motion target when sending signals interpolation.
and receiving signals are r11 (t ) , r12 (t ) respectively, while the Statistically the interferometric phase of two channels’ data
distance between antennas B and the target is r22 (t ) when it indicates time-varying property [9, 10]. If a fixed phase
receives signal. The distances can be derived as: threshold is applied to the whole image, lots of pixels will
remain. As a result, many false alarms occur and motion
½1 targets are overwhelmed. Real SAR data indicates that
r11 (t ) (( x0  vxt ) 2  ( y0  v yt  vat ) 2  H 2 ) 2° interferometric phase’s probability density function agrees with
1
° most clutters’, and therefore CFAR detection can be used to
2 2 2 2 °
r12 (t ) (( x0  vxt )  ( y0  v yt  vat )  H ) ¾ (1) achieve motion target indication.
1°
° Next, some parameters are analyzed for ATI detection in
r22 (t ) (( x0  vxt ) 2  ( y0  v yt  vat  d ) 2  H 2 ) 2 ° complex image domain.
¿
A. Velocity Ambiguity and Maximum Detectable Velocity
So after range compression and range migration correction, the
azimuth signal expressions of antennas A, B are as follows: According to (4), interferometric phase 'M indicates a
sinusoidal function relation with ground target v X . When v X is
­ § 2S ·
° s A (t ) exp ¨  j (r11 (t )  r12 (t ) ¸ so high that 'M exceeds detectable phase range that
° © O ¹
® (2) is (S ,S ] , the phase detected is not the real value indicated by
° s (t ) § 2S ·
exp ¨  j (r11 (t )  r22 (t ) ¸ (4). Consequently, velocity ambiguity occurs. Taking 'M S ,
°¯ B © O ¹
so maximum velocity value that can be unambiguously
For the echo signals from channels A and B, ATI detection can detected is:
be performed to the range but not azimuth compressed data, Ovr0
vmax (6)
and also it can be done in 2-D compressed complex image 2dx0
domain. Taking the later for example, assuming that the
Let S  'M  S , then the unambiguous velocity range is:
target’s azimuth velocity vY 0 , two complex images
Ovr0 Ovr0
I A (t ) and I B (t ) can be gotten after 2-D compression.  vd (7)
2dx0 2dx0
Delaying I A (t ) by time W D d / 2v , the interferometric signal is
then given by B. Blind Velocity
As can be seen from (5), when 'M 2kS ,
I (t ) I A (t  W D ) ˜ I B* (t )
k 0, r 1, k r2, motion target can’t be detected due to
§ 2S d x0 · (3)
I A (t  W D ) I B (t ) exp ¨ j 2v X ¸ blind phase. With (4) plugged in, the blind velocity period is:
© O 2v r0 ¹ k Ovr0
vblind ,k 0, r 1, k r2, (8)
and the interferometric phase by dx0
From analysis above, it’s apparent that ATI system’s
'M 2S vX dx0 / Ovr0 (4)
unambiguous detectable velocity range is related to
According to (4), for stationary clutter vX 0 , its wavelength, antenna distance and aircraft speed. The
maximum detectable velocity is inversely proportional to the
interferometric phase is zero; for motion target, vX z 0
other parameters when wavelength and flight speed are fixed.
and 'I z 2kS , its interferometric phase is not zero. Therefore
motion target can be detected via interferometric phase and C. Mimimum Detectable Velocity
range velocity can be written as: In fact, the detectable velocity range is also limited to the
'MOvr0
minimum detectable velocity. With interferometric phase
vX (5) threshold Md , motion target can be detected only if 'M ! Md ,
2S dxo
which derives the minimum detectable velocity:
 OvMd r0 kgOvr0
v min (9) vblind ,k r1, r 2, (12)
2S dx0 2lx0

III. THREE-CHANNEL MOTION TARGET DETECTION BASED ON where g is the least common multiple of p, q , and thus, if
ATI TECHNIQUE p, q is coprime, the system can get the maximum blind
velocity period and the blind velocity point is:
d12
Z d13 kpqOvr0
vblind ,k r1, r 2, (13)
v 2lx0
A3 A2 A1
Theoretically, if p, q get larger, the blind velocity becomes
larger. Actually, due to the limit of residual signal error or
H antenna distance etc., p, q usually take values smaller than 5.
From another point of view, in (11), the first equation uses
rc o ro Y baseline B12 , and the corresponding sub-system of which has a
§ Ovr0 Ovr0 º
vY detectable unambiguous velocity range ¨  » , ,
P © 4 x0 B12 4 x0 B12 ¼
vX O vr0Md
X with the minimum detectable velocity (MDV) ;
4S x0 B12
meanwhile, the second equation uses baseline B13 , and the
Fig. 2. Three-channel ATI geometry
corresponding sub-system of which has a detectable
The geometric for a three-channel SAR system is shown in Fig § Ovr0 Ovr0 º
2. The aircraft flies along a linear trajectory parallel to the unambiguous velocity range ¨  , » with the
© 4 x0 B13 4 x0 B13 ¼
Y-axis at constant velocity v , one target moves with range
O vr0Md
velocity v X and azimuth velocity vY on the ground. As the MDV . Therefore, for the three-channel ATI system
4S x0 B13
figure shows, three antennas A1 , A2 , A3 are mounted along the
illustrated in figure 2, if the coprime relation is satisfied, its
trajectory, separated respectively by baseline d12 and d13 . detectable unambiguous velocity range is expanded to
Antenna A sends linear frequency modulated signal while the § lOvr0 lOvr0 º
three antennas receives echo signals at the same time. In mode ¨ , » , if MDV is also considered, then the
of one launch source, the valid baseline is one half of the © 4 x0 B12 B13 4 x0 B12 B13 ¼
antenna distance, that is, the valid baseline B12 d12 / 2 as well § lOvr0 Ovr0Md Ovr0Md lOvr0 º
range can be ¨  , , , ».
as B13 d13 / 2 . © 4 x B B
0 12 13 4S x B
0 13 4S x B
0 13 4 x0 B12 B13 ¼

In the above system, if the length of baseline B12 , B13 satisfies: IV. SIMULATION TESTS
­ l In experiments below, motion targets detection is carried out
° B12 p
in complex image field, simulation parameters listed in table
°
® ( p, q take non-zero integers; l is real number) (10) 1.
°B l
°̄ 13 q TABLE I. SIMULATION PARAMETERS

Then ATI interferometric phase expressions are as follows flight height 200m wavelength 0.0015m
after using these two baselines to detect one same motion
operating distance 2000m PRF 2000Hz
target:
flight velocity 60m/s range resolution 0.1m
­ 2S B x
°'M12 i ˜ 2S  M12
'
2vx 12 0 distance of A1, A2 0.01m distance of A1, A3 0.015m
° O v r0
® ( i, j take integers) (11)
°'M 2S B13 x0
2vx j ˜ 2S  M13
'
°̄ 13 O v r0 Arranging two moving point targets in the scene, whose initial
coordinate is (20, 0), (30, -1.5), range velocity is 9m/s, 6m/s
where M12' , M13' are the wrapped values of interferometric phase. respectively, as figure 3 shows. Fix the signal to noise ratio
Obviously, this equation set includes three unknowns i, j, vX , SNR 40 dB and CNR 10 dB .
and thus there exists more than one solution, which implies Three antennas observe the same scene. Regular SAR image is
blind velocity phenomenon. Solve the equations and blind gained by processing one channel echo data. Figure 4 shows
velocity of the system is: the ATI processing results of channels 1-2 and 1-3
respectively. Obviously, the information of motion target is
reserved to a greater degree.
 channels 1-2 and channels 1-3 is 9 m/s and 6 m/s respectively.
The simulation results coincide with theory analysis.

Fig. 3. Observation scene

(a) Channels 1-2

(a) Channels 1-2

(b) Channels 1-3
Fig. 5. SAR image with marked motion target

Setting the ground range velocity of motion target 1, 2 to 4.5

m/s, 18m/s, CFAR detection result is displayed in figure 6.
Both channels 1-2 and channels 1-3 detected motion target 1
merely, because their blind velocity are 9m/s, 6m/s
respectively and thus the whole system’s 18m/s. Hence, target
moving at 18m/s can’t be detected.

(b)Channels 1-3
Fig. 4. 2-D interferometric phase image

As figure 5 shows, is marked the motion target detected by

channels 1-2 and channels 1-3 respectively on the SAR image.
It can be seen that channels 1-2 only detected motion target 2
while channels 1-3 merely detected motion target 1. But, the
whole three-channel system detected both of them
simultaneously. According to table 7, blind velocity of (a) Channels 1-2
 V. CONCLUSION
Terahertz ViSAR system has a very short wavelength, which
lead to a result that the detectable unambiguous velocity is too
small. This paper focuses on the problem and presents the
multi-channel motion target indication method based on ATI
technique. Specifically, the system selects two baselines with
different length, and utilizes algebra coprime relation to expand
blind velocity period. Final simulation results verify its
effectiveness, and the detectable unambiguous velocity range
of this three-channel terahertz ViSAR model gets a significant
improvement.

(b) Channels 1-3
Fig. 6. SAR image with marked motion target
From results above, it can be seen that the whole system’s
detectable unambiguous velocity range is effectively enlarged.
Supposing one motion point target whose interferometric
phase is 1 rad, figure 7 displays the ROC (Receiver Operating
Characteristic) curves in condition of multilooks n 4 ,
SCR 10dB, 0dB, 10dB . Noticeably, when value of SCR
decreases, the detection probability Pd changes its form. If
false alarm probability Pfa is fixed, Pd gets higher when
SCR value is greater.
1 [6] Lin Hua. Analysis and simulation of UAV terahertz wave synthetic
0.9
0.8
Detection Probability
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