Experimental Comparison of Radon Domain Approaches for Resident Space Object's Parameter Estimation

Sensors (Basel). 2021 Feb 11;21(4):1298. doi: 10.3390/s21041298.

Abstract

The fast and uncontrolled rise of the space objects population is threatening the safety of space assets. At the moment, space awareness solutions are among the most calling research topic. In fact, it is vital to persistently observe and characterize resident space objects. Instrumental highlights for their characterization are doubtlessly their size and rotational period. The Inverse Radon Transform (IRT) has been demonstrated to be an effective method for this task. The analysis presented in this paper has the aim to compare various approaches relying on IRT for the estimation of the object's rotation period. Specifically, the comparison is made on the basis of simulated and experimental data.

Keywords: RSO; Radon; SIRTA; SSA; SST; autocorrelation; comparison; micro-Doppler; period estimation; radar; rotating targets; space debris; time-frequency.