TECHNIQUE FOR LOW GRAZING ANGLE 3D SAR TARGET RECOGNITION

A radar on a moving platform for three dimensional target recognition of a target on a flat or sloping terrain is described. The target is illuminated from a plurality of locations to generate images at many aspect angles. The radar is positioned at a low grazing angle with respect to the target for generating a shadow of the target on the flat or sloping terrain for each aspect angle of the plurality of aspect angles. The radar comprises an analog to digital converter for converting reflections from the target induced by radar illumination into target digital data and for converting reflections induced by the illumination from the flat or sloping terrain into terrain digital data. The radar further comprises a computer for extracting radar images of the target and its shadow(s) at the plurality of aspect angles at low grazing angles; computing the slope of the terrain from the terrain digital data; correlating a plurality of the radar images to compute a three dimensional image of the target from the shadow of the target upon the flat or sloping terrain; and classifying the three dimensional image for target recognition using a target recognition algorithm.