Blind time‐domain motion compensation for synthetic Doppler spectra obtained from an HF‐radar on a floating platform

Abstract A method for time‐domain motion compensation of high frequency (HF) radar signals for the case of a floating transmitter and fixed receiver is proposed when the motion parameters (including the amplitude and angular frequency of the motion) are not known a priori. In this study, the floating platform is assumed to follow a single‐frequency motion model. Additionally, instead of trying to estimate platform motion parameters from the received motion‐contaminated Doppler spectrum, which is proportional to the observed radar cross‐section of the ocean surface from the floating platform, the motion parameters from the autocorrelation function of the received electric field are estimated, which is related to the received radar cross‐section by application of an inverse temporal Fourier transform. By comparing the locations of the zeros of the autocorrelation function for the fixed antenna case with that for an antenna on a floating platform and finding the zeros associated with the platform motion, the motion parameters are estimated. These parameters are matched with actual motion parameter values, from which the motion‐compensated Doppler spectrum is recovered from the Doppler spectrum of the antenna on a floating platform.