Modeling and analysis of infrared radiation dynamic characteristics for space micromotion target recognition

Abstract The infrared radiation characteristics under micromotion provide an important parameter for space target recognition. To solve the problem of space infrared target recognition over long distances, an infrared radiation model of space target is established by comprehensively considering the target flight scenario, temperature change, target shape and size, and micromotion factor. First, the micromotion model is established, and the multi-target surface is meshed by uniformly sampling the three-dimensional space. Next, the temperature field model of the target surface is established by considering the rapid change in the radiation angle coefficient of the target facets. Then, according to the dynamic angle relationship among the target facet position, radiation vector, and line of sight, the infrared radiation model of the target is established. The effects of micromotion on the surface facet temperature, projected area, and infrared radiation of the target are simulated and analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the temperature range of all targets is 260–323 K under the set parameters and decide the trend of radiation intensity, and the micromotion causes periodic fluctuation of the facets temperature, projected area, and radiation intensity. The shape of the micromotion target and micromotion angle jointly affect the infrared radiation amplitude in the same line of sight observation. The infrared radiation data of multiple space targets in any flight scene can be obtained using the model, which provides support for target detection, tracking, recognition and the design of parameters of infrared detectors.