Joint Radar and Communication in Disaster Management

The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters underscore the urgent need for advanced technologies to enhance disaster management. Conventional communication infrastructures often fail in such scenarios due to physical damage and limited adaptability to rapidly changing conditions. This article introduces a general framework for evaluating ad-hoc mesh Joint Radar and Communication (JRC) systems in disaster environments, based on the concept of Supportive Relief Networks. These systems integrate radar functionalities such as detecting vital signs, hazardous gas leaks, and fires with communication capabilities to enable the timely dissemination of critical information. The performance evaluation focuses on key metrics, including data rate, Signal-to-Clutter and Noise Ratio, probability of detection, and false alarm rate, under various clutter conditions. The study aims to jointly optimize radar and communication beamforming to minimize the Cramer–Rao Bound for accurate target localization while satisfying essential performance constraints. A gradient descent algorithm is employed for resource allocation, selected for its adaptability and computational efficiency in complex environments. The findings offer actionable insights into the role of JRC systems in improving the effectiveness of disaster management operations.