Stereoscopic passive millimeter-wave imaging and ranging

• Published in: IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques Vol. 53; no. 8; pp. 2594 - 2599
• Main Authors: Luthi, T., Matzler, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-08-2005; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Antennas; Applied sciences; Beams (radiation); Circuit properties; Distance measurement; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Imaging; Infrared imaging; Layout; Microwave circuits, microwave integrated circuits, microwave transmission lines, submillimeter wave circuits; Microwaves; Millimeter wave measurements; Millimeter wave radar; Millimeter wave technology; millimeter-wave imaging; Optical imaging; Oversampling; Physics; Radar imaging; Radiocommunications; Radiometry; Remote monitoring; stereo vision; Stereoscopic; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Wavelengths; Performance evaluation; Millimeter wave imaging; High resolution; Range finding; Stereoscopy; Microwave; Imager; Non stationary condition; Oversampling; millimeter-wave technology; Millimetric wave; Accuracy; millimeter-wave imaging; Radiometry; Distance measurement; stereo vision; Antenna; Image contrast; Radiometer
• ISSN: 0018-9480; 1557-9670
• DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2005.852757

This paper presents the first stereoscopic range measurements at a wavelength of 3.3 mm and discusses the accuracy of this new method. The synthesis of passive millimeter-wave imaging and stereoscopy combines the advantages of both principles, naturally looking high-contrast images and superior poor-weather performance (compared to visible and infrared wavelengths), as well as the passive ranging capability. Our setup using two antennas with a half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of 0.9/spl deg/ and a stereoscopic baseline of 1.15 m allows ranging with an accuracy of /spl ap/10% up to a distance of /spl ap/300 m. The range resolution improves with increasing stereoscopic baseline, lower radiometer noise, narrower antenna beams, and higher scene contrast. For scenes with sufficient contrast, the directional resolution is considerably better than the antenna HPBW. Thus, massive oversampling of the scene in the plane of the stereoscopic baseline is required. For our setup, an oversampling factor of 36 is optimal. Since additional ranging errors result from nonstationary scenes, fast scanning imagers should be applied.