Squint LFMCW SAR Data Processing Using Doppler-Centroid-Dependent Frequency Scaling Algorithm

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing Vol. 46; no. 11; pp. 3535 - 3543
• Main Authors: JIANG, Zhi-Hong, HUANG-FU, Kan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.11.2008; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Applied geophysics; Bandwidth; Computer simulation; Data processing; Degradation; Doppler centroid; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency; frequency scaling algorithm; Image quality; Internal geophysics; linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (LFMCW) radar; Migration; Nonlinearity; Radar imaging; Radar remote sensing; Sampling methods; Signal processing algorithms; Synthetic aperture radar; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); Unmanned aerial vehicles; waves; algorithms; extension; simulation; data processing; frequency scaling algorithm; remote sensing; frequency; Doppler centroid; image quality; linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (LFMCW) radar; corrections; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); migration; Synthetic aperture radar
• DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2008.2000755
• ISSN: 0196-2892

A linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (LFMCW) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a highly miniaturized SAR that is suitable for use on a small unmanned aerial vehicle. In squint stripmap mode, the LFMCW SAR image quality is degraded by the presence of nonlinearities in the transmitted signal, combined with the large bandwidth introduced by the frequency scaling in the nonlinear frequency scaling (NLFS) algorithm. This paper proposes an extension of the NLFS algorithm called the Doppler-centroid-dependent frequency scaling algorithm. The algorithm introduces a new Doppler-centroid-dependent scaling factor to decrease the introduced bandwidth, effectively removing the range frequency aliasing, without extra computational load. Nonlinearity correction is performed at the same time as range cell migration correction. The validity of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated with point target simulation results.