Aperture sampling techniques for precision direction finding

The resolution and tracking of radar targets which are close together is a classical problem which is receiving increased attention. Improving the angular resolution by sampling the received wavefront along the aperture and then applying modern 'high resolution' spectrum estimation techniques (e.g., maximum likelihood and maximum entropy processing) to the spatial sample data is discussed. Experimental results are presented for the application of these techniques to field data from an L-band line array.