Measuring Uav Propeller Length Using Micro-Doppler Signatures

The low radar cross sections of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) pose challenges for their proper classification. Recent works have examined the micro-Doppler (MD) signatures of UAVs for model classification. Here, the physical blade lengths of rotary wings are extracted from the MD blade flash phenomena such that correlated UAV features, such as size and weight, may be deduced to narrow the scope of subsequent classification. The proposed blade length estimation of rotating propellers is applied to simulated and experimentally collected MD measurements to characterize the blade flash phenomena. Assorted UAV blade lengths are experimentally estimated with less than 1% error.