Dr Francis Watson - University of Manchester

Francis Watson is developing Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging methods which resolve complex scattering phenomenology observed in many intelligence-relevant scenarios.  The fundamental SAR imaging process makes some basic assumptions about the interaction of radar pulses with the scene, including single scattering from stationary isotropic point scatterers.  These assumptions are broken in situations such as multiple scattering from walls, tree canopies, or underground, or in dynamic scenes.  New image formation methods which can resolve these features are often mathematically non-linear.  They are also aided by collecting multi-dimensional data, such as from multi-static systems with multiple distributed radars operating together.  Radar is seeing rapid development of such multidimensional systems – something seen in many imaging modalities – so a second axis Watson’s research is in understanding how to best use this new very large data, and exploit the information it contains.  As part of his Fellowship, he is also driving new interdisciplinary interactions between mathematicians, radar researchers, and stakeholders.  This is helping to break down communication barriers between disciplines, and building a community of practice able to answer mathematical questions in radar imaging, and transition outputs through to practical engineering solutions.