Abstract: Ground\|based radar is a powerful tool for monitoring space debris. Imaging of the space debris with dimensions smaller than the range resolution is of great significance. Based on the observation that space debris usually follows a simple spin motion around its major axis, a novel method for radar imaging of space debris based on sparse signal representation is proposed by analyzing the signal model of the target. In the proposed method, the imaging problem is converted to the problem of sparse signal decomposition. First, a complete dictionary is constructed by elements which represent the scattering properties of each point. Then, a sparse representation of the single range unit’s radar echo is solved by using the exsisting method. Finally, the 2D high resolution image of the target is obtained by rearranging the solved result. Furthermore, the validity of the proposed approach is confirmed by using numerical simulations.

Key words: Radar imaGing, Space debris, Sparse signal representation, Matched pursuit(MP)