Experimental Verification of the Concept of Using LOFAR Radio-Telescopes as Receivers in Passive Radiolocation Systems

Abstract

The paper presents a new idea of using a low-frequency radio-telescope belonging to the LOFAR network as a receiver in a passive radar system. The structure of a LOFAR radio-telescope station is described in the context of applying this radio-telescope for detection of aerial (airplanes) and space (satellite) targets. The theoretical considerations and description of the proposed signal processing schema for the passive radar based on a LOFAR radio-telescope are outlined in the paper. The results of initial experiments verifying the concept of a LOFAR station use as a receiver and a commercial digital radio broadcasting (DAB) transmitters as illuminators of opportunity for aerial object detection are presented.