Three Dimensional SAR from Curvilinear Apertures.
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3-D) radar imaging is presently at an exploratory stage of development. Such imagery is of proven usefulness and would undoubtedly find increased application if more readily available. The 3-D information content in data taken from a curved SAR aperture is significant if sizable data projections are produced when the date are projected in three orthogonal directions. Such sparce data does not generate visually acceptable 3-D images by straight forward Fourier transformation however. The high sidelobes present in such images may be larger than major scatterers and thus veil their appearance and they also very nearly always interfere with visual lines of sight to other scatterers. A coherent adaptation of the CLEAN algorithm is shown to be very effective in eliminating sidelobes in such images allowing the 3-D character of the target to be observed. Images obtained for a target consisting of eight corner reflector scatterers within several resolution distances of one another show only moderate dependence upon the aperture chosen. Comparison of results from real and simulated data indicate that the dynamic range available was not limited by sidelobe interferences in the subtractive deconvolution process but was inherent in the data in this experiment. These results indicate that it may be possible to form visually useful 3-D images of targets in an operational situation from SAR data taken along a curvilinear aperture path.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA310740
Entities
People
- Kenneth Knaeil
Organizations
- Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division