Fabrizio Santi

Fabrizio Santi received the Master's degree (Cum laude) in telecommunication engineering and the Ph.D. degree in remote sensing from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in September 2010 and June 2014, respectively. From April to September 2013 he carried on research activity with the Microwave Integrated Systems Laboratory of the University of Birmingham, UK. At present, he works as Assistant Professor at the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome .

Research Activity

The main research interests of Fabrizio Santi are in the field of radar systems and signal processing.

Current research topics include: 

• Monostatic and multistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR)/ISAR systems and techniques

• Passive radar imagery using satellite illuminators

• GNSS-based passive radar for maritime surveillance

• Parasitic systems exploiting radar illuminators

Teachings

Sapienza courses catalogue

Research Projects

• 2023-present - "EO4SECURITY, Innovative SAR processing methodologies for security applications - Topic B2: microDoppler", project funded by the European Space Agency

• 2023-present - "EO4SECURITY, Innovative SAR processing methodologies for security applications - Topic B1: ISAR", project funded by the European Space Agency

• 2022-present - "Radar 'green' multidimensionali basati su sorgenti di opportunità satellitari per il monitoraggio e la protezione di aree marittime", Bando Ricerca Sapienza 2022

• 2021-2023 - "Fundamental Techniques, Models and Algorithms for a Lunar Radio Navigation System", project funded by the European Space Agency

• 2018-2020 - "Parasitic concepts definition and analysis based on a Geo illuminator", project funded by the Italian Space Agency

• 2018-2019 - "APOLLO - Radar passivo basato su trasmettitori GNSS per la sorveglianza marittima", Progetto POR FESR Lazio 2014-2020

• 2017-2018 - "Studio di tecniche di rivelazione di bersagli navali per radar passivi multistatici basati su satelliti di navigazione", Progetto per Avvio alla Ricerca (Bando Ricerca Sapienza 2017)

• 2015-2017 - "Galileo-based Passive Radar System for Maritime Surveillance - SpyGLASS", H2020 research project

• 2010-2012 - "Study on Distributed ISAR Techniques", project funded by Selex Galileo

Partecipation in editorial boards

• Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (Feb. 2024 - present)

• Guest Editor for the Remote Sensing (MDPI) Special Issue Advanced Spaceborne SAR Processing Techniques for Target Detection (Feb. 2024 - present)

• Associate Editor for IEEE Sensors Journal (Feb. 2022 - present)

• Associate Editor for IEEE Access (Jul. 2021- present)

• Review Editor of the Editorial Board of Radar Signal Processing (Frontiers) (Jan.  2021 - present)

• Topic Editor of the journal Remote Sensing (MDPI) (May 2020 - present)

• Guest Editor for the Remote Sensing (MDPI) Special Issue Recent Advances on Radar and Remote Sensing Using Satellite Signals of Opportunity (Feb. 2020 - Aug. 2021)

• Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEÜ) (Elsevier) (Oct. 2019 - present) 

• Frequently reviewer for a number of international technical journals in the area of radar and remote sensing (2012 - present)

Publications

International Journals

• F. Santi, I. Pisciottano, D. Cristallini, D. Pastina, "Impact of rotational motion estimation errors on passive bistatic ISAR imaging via back-projection algorithm," IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observation and Remote Sensing, vol. 17, pp. 3345-3365, 2024.

• I. Nasso, F. Santi, "Maritime moving target detection and localisation technique for Global Navigation Satellite Signals‐based passive multistatic radar," IET Radar Sonar Navigation, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 93-106, Jan. 2024.

• A. Testa, D. Pastina, F. Santi, "Decentralized Approach for Translational Motion Estimation with Multistatic Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar Systems," Remote Sens. 2023, 15(18), 4372.

• I. Nasso, F. Santi, "A Centralized Ship Localization Strategy for Passive Multistatic Radar Based on Navigation Satellites," IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, vol. 19, pp. 1-5, 2022, Art no. 4026805.

• I. Nasso, F. Santi, D. Pastina, "Maritime targets velocity estimation in space-based passive multistatic radar using long integration times," IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 163764 - 163779, Dec. 2021.

• F. Santi, G.P. Blasone, D. Pastina, F. Colone, P. Lombardo, "Parasitic Surveillance Potentialities Based on a GEO-SAR Illuminator," Remote Sensing, 13(23): 4817, Nov. 2021.

• I. Pisciottano, F. Santi, D. Pastina, D. Cristallini, "DVB-S Based Passive Polarimetric ISAR — Methods and Experimental Validation," IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 6056 - 6070, Mar. 2021.

• D. Pastina, F. Santi, F. Pieralice, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Passive radar imaging of ship targets with GNSS signals of opportunity," IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 'vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 2627-2624, Mar. 2021. 

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Bucciarelli, "Experimental Demonstration of Ship Target Detection in GNSS-Based Passive Radar Combining Target Motion Compensation and Track-before-Detect Strategies," Sensors, 20(3), 599, Jan. 2020.

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, "Joint Detection and Localization of Vessels at Sea With a GNSS-Based Multistatic Radar," IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol. 57, no. 8, pp. 5894-5913, Aug. 2019.

• D. Pastina, F. Santi, F. Pieralice, M. Bucciarelli, H. Ma, D. Tzagkas, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Maritime Moving Target Long Time Integration for GNSS-Based Passive Bistatic Radar," IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 54, no. 6, pp. 3060-3083, Dec. 2018.

• H. Ma, M. Antoniou, D. Pastina, F. Santi, F. Pieralice, M. Bucciarelli, M. Cherniakov, "Maritime Moving Target Indication Using Passive GNSS-Based Bistatic Radar," IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 115-130, Feb. 2018.

• Z. Li, F. Santi, D. Pastina, P. Lombardo, "Passive Radar Array with Low-Power Satellite Illuminators Based on Fractional Fourier Transform," IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 17, no. 24, pp. 8378-8394, Dec. 2017.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Bucciarelli, "Estimation of ship dynamics with a multiplatform radar imaging system," IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 2769-2788, Dec. 2017.

• Z. Li, F. Santi, D. Pastina, P. Lombardo, "Multi-frame fractional Fourier transform technique for moving target detection with space-based passive radar," IET, Radar, Sonar & Navigation, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 822-828, May 2017.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Spatial resolution improvement in GNSS-based SAR using multistatic acquisitions and feature extraction," IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol. 54, no. 10, pp. 6217-6231, Oct. 2016.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, "A parasitic array receiver for ISAR imaging of ship targets using a coastal radar," Hindawi International Journal of Antennas and Propagation, Volume 2016 (2016), Article ID 8485305.

• F. Santi, M. Antoniou, D. Pastina, "Point Spread Function Analysis for GNSS-Based Multistatic SAR," IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 304-308, Feb. 2015.

• D. Pastina, F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, "MIMO Distributed Imaging of Rotating Targets for Improved 2-D Resolution," IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 190-194, Jan. 2015.

Conference Proceedings

• M. Zavagli, D. Pastina, A. Testa, F. Santi, E. Morando, C. Pratola, M. Corvino, M. Costantini, "Inverse SAR processing for maritime awareness," IEEE IGARSS 2023, Pasadena, California, USA, 16-21 Jul. 2023.

• A. Testa, D. Pastina, M. Zavagli, F. Santi, C. Pratola, M. Corvino, “Exploitation of single-channel space-borne SAR data for ship targets imaging and motion parameters estimation,” IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP 2023), Rhodes Island, Greece, 4-10 Jun. 2023

• A. Testa, E. Morando, D. Pastina, M. Zavagli, F. Santi, C. Pratola, M. Corvino, "Velocity Estimation of Maritime Targets in Spaceborne Single‑Channel SAR images: Methods and Performance Assessment," International Radar Symposium, Berlin, Germany, 24-26 May 2023

• F. Santi, I. Pisciottano, D. Pastina, D. Cristallini, "Multi-angle DVB-S based passive ISAR sensitivity to target motion estimation errors," 2023 IEEE Radar Conference, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 1-5 May 2023

• I. Nasso, F. Santi, "A centralized approach for ship target detection and localization with multi-transmitters GNSS-based passive radar," IET International Conf. Radar Syst., Edinburgh, UK, 24-27 Oct. 2022.

• A. Testa, D. Pastina, F. Santi, "Comparing decentralized and centralized approaches for translational motion estimation with multistatic ISAR systems," International Radar Symposium, Gdańsk, Poland, 12-14 Sep. 2022.

• F. Santi, I. Pisciottano, D. Pastina, D. Cristallini, "Impact of Motion Estimation Errors on DVB-S Based Passive ISAR Imaging ", 2022 IEEE International Radar Conference, New York City, NY, USA, 21-25 Mar. 2022.

• A. Testa, F. Santi, D. Pastina, "Translational motion estimation with multistatic ISAR sytems", International Radar Symposium, 21-22 June 2021.

• I. Nasso, F. Santi, D. Pastina, "Ship target velocity estimation with multi-transmitter GNSS-based passive radar exploiting long integration times", International Radar Symposium, 21-22 June 2021.

• F. Santi, I. Pisciottano, D. Pastina, D. Cristallini, "First experimental results on multi-angle DVB-S based passive ISAR exploiting multipolar data", 2021 IEEE International Radar Conference, Atlanta, USA, May 2021.

• F. Santi, I. Pisciottano, D. Cristallini, D. Pastina, "Preliminary investigations toward multi-frame DVB-S based passive ISAR", EUSAR 2021, 29 Mar. - 1 Apr. 2021.

• I. Pisciottano, D. Cristallini, D. Pastina, F. Santi, "Experimental results of polarimetric passive ISAR exploiting DVB-S2 illumination", 2020 IEEE International Radar Conference, Washington, DC, USA, 28-30 April 2020.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "GNSS-based multistatic passive radar imaging of ship targets", 2020 IEEE International Radar Conference, Washington, DC, USA, 28-30 April 2020.

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Passive radar imagery of ship targets by using navigation satellites transmitters of opportunity", International Radar Symposium IRS 2019, Ulm, Germany, 26-28 June 2019.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, "Application of track-before-detect techniques in GNSS-based passive radar for maritime surveillance", 2019 IEEE Radar Conference, Boston, MA, USA, 22-26 Apr. 2019.

• F. Pieralice, F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Ship targets feature extraction with GNSS-based passive radar via ISAR approaches: preliminary experimental study", EUSAR 2018, Aachen, Germany, 4-7 June 2018.

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, "Multistatic GNSS-based passive radar for maritime surveillance with long integration times: experimental results", 2018 IEEE Radar Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, USA, 23-27 Apr. 2018.

• F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, "Multi-transmitters ship target detection with GNSS-based passive radar", Radar 2017, International Conference on Radar Systems, Belfast (UK), 23-26 Oct. 2017.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Bucciarelli, "Maritime moving target detection technique for passive bistatic radar with GNSS transmitters", IRS 2017, 18th International Radar Symposium, Prague (CZ), 28-30 June 2017.

• F. Pieralice, F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Bucciarelli, H. Ma, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "GNSS-based passive radar for maritime surveillance: Long integration time MTI technique", 2017 IEEE Radar Conference, Seattle, WA, USA, 8-12 May 2017.

• H. Ma, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, D. Pastina, F. Santi, F. Pieralice, M. Bucciarelli, "Maritime target detection using GNSS-based radar: Experimental proof of concept", 2017 IEEE Radar Conference, Seattle, WA, USA, 8-12 May 2017.

• Z. Li, F. Santi, D. Pastina, P. Lombardo, "Satellite-based PCL for moving target detection using Keystone transform and FrFT", RADAR 2016 - CIE International Conference on Radar, Guangzhou, China, 10-13 October 2016.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Passive multi-perspective GNSS-based SAR using CLEAN technique: an experimental study", EUSAR 2016, Hamburg, Germany, 6-9 June 2016.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "Passive multistatic SAR with GNSS transmitters and using joint bi/multi-static CLEAN technique", 2016 IEEE Radar Conference, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2-6 May 2016.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, "CLEAN technique for passive bistatic and multistatic SAR with GNSS transmitters", RADAR 2015 - IEEE Radar Conference, Arlington, Virginia (USA), 10-15 May 2015.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, "Multi-sensor ISAR technique for feature-based motion estimation of ship targets", RADAR'14, International Radar Conference 2014, Lille, France, 13-17 Oct. 2014.

• F. Santi, M. Antoniou, D. Pastina, D. Tzagkas, M. Bucciarelli, M. Cherniakov, "Passive multi-static SAR with GNSS transmitters: preliminary experimental study", EuRAD 2014, Rome, Italy, 8-10 Oct. 2014.

• F. Santi, M. Antoniou, D. Pastina, D. Tzagkas, M. Bucciarelli, M. Cherniakov, "Passive multi-static SAR with GNSS transmitters: first theoretical and experimental results with point targets", EUSAR 2014, Berlin, Germany, 2-5 June 2014.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, P. Lombardo, "ISAR while-scan mode for coastal surveillance", RADAR 2014 - IEEE Radar Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio (USA), 19-23 May 2014.

• F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Bucciarelli, "Multi-sensor ISAR techniques for motion estimation of pitching, rolling and yawing targets", RADAR 2013 - IEEE Radar Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 29 April - 3 May 2013.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, "Target rotation motion estimation from distributed ISAR data", RADAR 2012 - IEEE Radar Conference, Atlanta, Georgia (USA), 7-11 May 2012.

• D. Pastina, F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, P. Lombardo, "2D-MIMO SAR/ISAR imaging of moving targets with reconfigurable formation of platforms", EUSAR 2012, Nuremberg, Germany, 23-26 April 2012.

• D. Pastina, F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, "Multi-angle distributed ISAR with stepped-frequency waveforms for surveillance and recognition", RADAR 2011 - CIE International Conference on Radar, Chengdu, China, 24-27 October 2011.

• F. Santi, P. Lombardo, D. Pastina, "Oil spill detection using a coastal high-resolution radar", RADAR 2011 - IEEE Radar Conference, Kansas City, Missouri (USA), 23-27 May 2011.

National & International Workshops

• I. Nasso, F. Santi, D. Pastina, "GNSS-based multistatic passive ISAR",  9th PCL Focus Days, Wachtberg, Germany, 17-18 October 2023

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, "Detection localization and imaging of vessels at sea with a GNSS-based passive radar", 3rd Italian Radar and Remote Sensing Workshop, Rome, Italy, 30-31 May 2019

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, "Passive radar enabled by GNSS signals of opportunity for maritime surveillance applications", IEEE GNSS+R 2019, Benevento, Italy, 20-22 May 2019.

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, "Ship target detection and localization with a GNSS-based passive radar using long integration times and multistatic acquisitions", 7th PCL Focus Days, Wachtberg, Germany, 7-8 May 2019

• F. Santi, F. Pieralice, D. Pastina, "Multistatic GNSS-based passive radar for maritime surveillance", 2nd Italian Radar and Remote Sensing Workshop, Pavia, Italy, 28-29 May 2018.

• F. Pieralice, F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Bucciarelli, H. Ma, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov, "GNSS-Based Passive Radar Detection for Maritime Surveillance", 1st Italian Radar and Remote Sensing Workshop, Naples, Italy, 25-26 May 2017.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, D. Tzagkas, M. Cherniakov, "Passive multistatic imaging exploiting GNSS transmitters", 5th PCL Focus Day, Wachtberg, Germany, 28-29 April 2015.

• F. Santi, M. Bucciarelli, D. Pastina, "2D-MIMO distributed ISAR imaging of rotating targets with improved range and cross-range resolution", IEEE GOLD Remote Sensing Conference, Rome, Italy, 4-5 June 2012.

Conferences attended

Since 2011, Dr. Santi attended as speaker to several conferences related to radars, presenting several of his research results:

• 9th PCL Focus Days 2019, Wachtberg, Germany, 17-88 October 2023

• International Radar Symposium IRS 2023, Berlin, Germany, 24-26 May 2023

• IEEE RadarConf 2023, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 1-5 May 2023

• EURAD 2022, European Radar Conference 2022, Milan, Italy, 28-30 Sep. 2022

• IEEE RadarConf 2022, New York City, NY (USA), 21-25 Mar. 2022

• IEEE RadarConf 2021, Atlanta, Georgia (USA), 10-14 May 2021 (virtual)

• EUSAR 2021, 13th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, 29 Mar. - 1 Apr. 2021 (virtual)

• IEEE RadarConf 2020, Washington, DC, USA, 28-30 April 2020 (virtual)

• International Radar Symposium IRS 2019, Ulm, Germany, 26-28 June 2019

• GTTI Radar and Remote Sensing Workshop, Rome, Italy, 30-31 May 2019

• IEEE GNSS+R 2019, Benevento, Italy, 20-22 May 2019

• 7th PCL Focus Days 2019, Wachtberg, Germany, 7-8 May 2019

• IEEE RadarConf 2019, Boston, Massachusetts (USA), 22-26 Apr. 2019

• GTTI Radar and Remote Sensing Workshop, Pavia, Italy, 28-29 May 2018

• IEEE RadarConf 2018, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (USA), 23-27 Apr. 2018

• International Radar Symposium IRS 2017, Prague, Czech Republic, 28-30 June 2017

• GTTI Radar and Remote Sensing Workshop, Naples, Italy, 25-26 May 2017

• EUSAR 2016, 11th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, Hamburg, Germany, 6-9 June 2016

• IEEE RadarConf 2016, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), 2-6 May 2016

• IEEE 2015 Radar Conference, Arlington, Virginia (USA), 10-15 May 2015

• 5th PCL Focus Days 2015, Wachtberg, Germany, 28-29 April 2015

• RADAR'14, International Radar Conference 2014, Lille, France, 13-17 Oct. 2014

• EURAD 2014, European Radar Conference 2014, Rome, Italy, 8-10 Oct. 2014

• EUSAR 2014, 10th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, Berlin, Germany, 2-5 June 2014

• IEEE 2012 GOLD Remote Sensing Conference, Rome, Italy, 4-5 June 2012

• IEEE 2012 Radar Conference, Atlanta, Georgia (USA), 7-11 May 2012

• IEEE 2011 CIE International Conference on Radar, Chengdu, China, 24-27 Oct. 2011

• GTTI 2011, Messina-Taormina, Italy, 20-22 June 2011

• IEEE 2011 Radar Conference, Kansas City, Missouri (USA), 23-27 May 2011

Awards

• Co-author of the Best Student Paper awarded at the 2022 IET Radar Conference (Edinburgh, UK, Oct. 2022): A centralized approach for ship target detection and localization with multi-transmitters GNSS-based passive radar, by I. Nasso, F. Santi

• Co-author of the Best Student Paper awarded at the 2021 International Radar Symposium (June 2021):  Ship target velocity estimation with multi-transmitter GNSS-based passive radar exploiting long integration times, by I. Nasso, F. Santi, D. Pastina.

• Co-author of the Second Best Student Paper awarded at the 2018 European Synthetic Aperture Radar Conference (Aachen, Germany, June 2018): Ship targets feature extraction with GNSS-based passive radar via ISAR approaches: preliminary experimental study, by F. Pieralice, F. Santi, D. Pastina, M. Antoniou, M. Cherniakov.

• Best 2010 Italian thesis on remote sensing award - IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing South Italy Chapter