Pulsar Emissions, Signal Modeling and Passive ISAR Imaging

Abstract

The present work addresses pulsar Crab Nebula emissions from point of view of their modeling and applications for asteroid detection and imaging by applying inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) principles. A huge value of the plasma’s effective temperature is a reason for pulsar emission coherency, a property of great practical meaning for a space objects navigation, localization and imaging. Based on measurement data obtained by Goldstone-Apple Valley and Arecibo radio telescopes, an original time frequency grid mathematical model of pulsar emissions is created. Passive ISAR scenario, a space object’s geometry and a model of pulsar signals reflected from the space object’s surface are also described and graphically illustrated. A new range compression approach for ISAR imaging is suggested and demonstrated. In order to reduce the level of additive white Gaussian noise in signals and enlarge the signal to noise ratio in the final image, coherent summation of multiple complex images is applied. To prove the correctness of the geometry, signal models and theoretical analysis, results of numerical experiments are provided.