High Accuracy Acquisition of 3-D Flight Trajectory of Individual Insect Based on Phase Measurement

Abstract

Accurate acquisition of 3-D flight trajectory of individual insect could be of benefit to the research of insect migration behaviors and the development of migratory entomology. This paper proposes a novel method to acquire 3-D flight trajectory of individual insect. First, based on the high range resolution synthesizing and the Doppler coherent processing, insects can be detected effectively, and the range resolution and velocity resolution are combined together to discriminate insects. Then, high accuracy range measurement with the carrier phase is proposed. The range measurement accuracy can reach millimeter level and benefits the acquisition of 3-D trajectory information significantly. Finally, based on the multi-baselines interferometry theory, the azimuth and elevation angles can be obtained with high accuracy. Simulation results prove that the retrieval accuracy of a simulated target’s 3-D coordinates can reach centimeter level. Experiments utilizing S-band radar in an anechoic chamber were taken and results showed that the insects’ flight behaviors and 3-D coordinates’ variation matched the practical cases well. In conclusion, both the simulated and experimental datasets validate the feasibility of the proposed method, which could be a novel measurement way of monitoring flight trajectory of aerial free-fly insects.

Radar Measurements of Morphological Parameters and Species Identification Analysis of Migratory Insects

“…The distinctive capacity of radar to monitor over-flying nocturnal insects makes it widely used in the study of the migration behavior of high-altitude migratory insects. Researchers in entomology have built various kinds of entomological radars, including airborne entomological radar [12,13], scanning entomological radar [14], tracking entomological radar [15] and vertical-looking radar (VLR) [16][17][18]. Among these radars, scanning entomological radar and vertical entomological radar are the most widely used in the research of insect migration, which have greatly promoted the development of radar entomology.…”