Ground-based, multi-bistatic interferometric radar system for measuring 2d and 3d deformations

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for determining a displacement vector field of a scenario, by a ground-based interferometric radar system operated in multi-bistatic mode and comprising a main radar transceiver device and at least one passive radar receiver device arranged at a predetermined distance from each other, in which the oscillators of the at least two radar are synchronized, in time and in frequency, in particular according to a signal coming from a global positioning system. The method provides a step of interferometrically determining at least one first displacement map and one second displacement map of the scenario between a previous time and a subsequent time, expressed in a global reference system and having each a plurality of pixels each associated to a respective domain of the scenario. The first and the second displacement maps comprise first and second displacement components of the pixel, respectively, along the line of sight of the main radar device, and along the bisectors of an angle between said line of sight and the line of sight of passive radar device, for each pixel. A step is then provided of combining the two displacement maps, more in detail, the first and the second component of each pixel, creating a displacement vector field of displacements occurred between the previous time and the subsequent time. The invention provides an apparatus much easier and less expensive than the prior art, in which a plurality of multi-monostatic, transceiving radar devices are used.