Investigation of the radar parameter subspace for different beam-park simulations with the TIRA system

Radar Beam-Park Experiments (BPEs) are regularly conducted in order to get insights into the statistical distribution of the space debris environment, especially at low altitudes. Signal processing techniques are necessary to process the data collected during BPEs. An improvement in these techniques may result in a corresponding improvement in terms of radar detection performance and space object parameter estimation. To this end, a transition from incoherent to coherent pulse integration could be of help, thanks to the resulting improvement in terms of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). Before assessing the potential of new signal processing schemes, the expected variations of the radar observables over the acquisition time have to be investigated. Indeed, deriving a priori bounds on the possible values the observables can assume, would allow adapting the BPE settings (e.g., the radar waveform or the boundaries of the matched filter) in order to optimize the processing speed and the overall detection performance. To carry out this investigation, two BPEs were simulated and the resulting beam crossing lists were exploited to understand how the satellite parameter space maps into the radar parameter subspace. This paper presents and discusses the results of the two simulations.