SPECTRUM ESTIMATION OF MODERATELY OVERSPREAD RADAR TARGETS USING APERIODIC TRANSMITTER CODING

We present a new method of spectrum estimation of moderately oversprea d targets using a pulse-to-pulse method, with nonuniform pulse spacing . This method is especially applicable to VHF observations of the auro ral electrojet irregularities, for which the ratio of the target range extent and the autocorrelation time exceeds the speed of light by a m odest amount. For a suitable choice of pulse spacings, the range and f requency aliasing can be uniquely unraveled, and the estimation algori thm can be expressed in terms of the fast Fourier transform, for excel lent computational efficiency. This technique should find application to other moderately overspread targets, such as Doppler weather radar and equatorial spread F.