Recognizing and tracing multipath returns in turntable radar imagery

Responses in turntable radar imagery are properly focused if they behave as fixed point scatterers in the focal plane chosen for polar reformatting. Other responses, whether generated by more complicated backscattering or by fixed point scatterers outside the focal plane, have a curved image phase. This curved phase can be used to recognize responses due to reflection between separated scatterers, and to determine the locations of the contributing scatterers, whether the scatterers are located on the target, its mount, or the turntable. We demonstrate this traceback procedure on data of a ground vehicle.