Calibration of MIMO Fully Polarimetric Imaging Radar Systems with Passive Targets

Abstract

Abstract The performance of polarimetric imaging radar systems depends greatly on how well they are calibrated. The complexity of the calibration procedure scales with the number of send and receive antennas, i. e. the size of the antenna array. This article proposes a practical and effective approach for calibrating a polarimetric near field MIMO imaging radar using only two simple passive targets. The calibration requires four measurement steps: An empty space measurement for suppressing direct mutual coupling between the channels. An offset short calibration with the specular reflection of a planar metal plate for the co-polarized channels. Two measurements with a dihedral reflector inclined at different angles for the cross-polarized calibration.