Coherent aspect-dependent SAR image formation

Ronald D. Chaney; Alan S. Willsky; Leslie M. Novak

doi:10.1117/12.177177

9 June 1994 Coherent aspect-dependent SAR image formation

Ronald D. Chaney, Alan S. Willsky, Leslie M. Novak

Proceedings Volume 2230, Algorithms for Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177177
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Engineering and Photonics in Aerospace Sensing, 1994, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

An adaptive image formation algorithm is proposed to exploit the aspect-angle dependence of man-made scatterers in foliage penetrating (FOPEN) synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Man-made scatterers often exhibit a strong dependence on the aspect angle between the orientation of the scatterer and the line of sight of the radar. More specifically, the return from a man-made target is greater when the target is oriented broadside with respect to the radar. Conventional SAR image formation processing assumes that backscatter is independent of the aspect angle; by relaxing this assumption, it is possible to reformulate the image formation process to improve the separability of man-made scatterers vs. natural clutter. We propose an image formation process that adapts the length and position of the aperture used during the cross-range compression stage. The algorithm identifies the locations that are likely to correspond to aspect- dependent scatterers. In the vicinity of such scatterers, the algorithm chooses the aperture to match the expected return from a man-made scatterer. Elsewhere, the algorithm uses the full aperture. The resulting imagery enhances man-made targets relative to the background clutter and facilitates improved detection performance.

Citation Download Citation

Ronald D. Chaney, Alan S. Willsky, and Leslie M. Novak "Coherent aspect-dependent SAR image formation", Proc. SPIE 2230, Algorithms for Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery, (9 June 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.177177

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