Detection of Micro-Doppler Signals of Drones Using Radar Systems with Different Radar Dwell Times

Not any radar dwell time of a drone radar is suitable for detecting micro-Doppler (or jet engine modulation, JEM) produced by the rotating blades in radar signals of drones. Theoretically, any X-band drone radar system should detect micro-Doppler of blades because of the micro-Doppler effect and partial resonance effect. Yet, we analyzed radar data detected by three radar systems with different radar dwell times but similar frequency and velocity resolution, including Radar−α, Radar−β, and Radar−γ with radar dwell times of 2.7 ms, 20 ms, and 89 ms, respectively. The results indicate that Radar−β is the best radar for detecting micro-Doppler (i.e., JEM signals) produced by the rotating blades of a quadrotor drone, DJI Phantom 4, because the detection probability of JEM signals is almost 100%, with approximately 2 peaks, whose magnitudes are similar to that of the body Doppler. In contrast, Radar−α can barely detect any micro-Doppler, and Radar−γ detects weak micro-Doppler signals, whose magnitude is only 10% of the body Doppler’s. Proper radar dwell time is the key to micro-Doppler detection. This research provides an idea for designing a cognitive micro-Doppler radar by changing radar dwell time for detecting and tracking micro-Doppler signals of drones.