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Synthetic aperture radar with polarimetric diversity is a powerful tool in remote sensing. Each pixel is described by the scattering matrix corresponding to the emission/reception polarization states (usually horizontal and vertical). The algebraic real representation, a block symmetric matrix form, is introduced to adopt a more comprehensive framework (non-restricted by reciprocity assumptions) in mapping the scattering matrix by the consimilarity equivalence relation. The proposed representation can reveal potentially new information. For example, its eigenvalue decomposition, which is itself a necessary step in obtaining the consimilarity transformation products, may be useful in characterizing the degree of reciprocity/nonreciprocity. As a consequence, it can be employed in testing the reciprocity compliance assumed with monostatic PolSAR data. Full-wave simulated polarimetric data confirm that oriented scatterers can present complex eigenvalues, even with the monostatic geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave photonic synthetic aperture radar (MWP-SAR) offers a larger signal bandwidth than conventional SAR, and its theoretical resolution can be improved to centimeter level. To achieve same order of magnitude resolution in the azimuth direction, long synthetic aperture is always required, which results in extremely high requirements for the accuracy of imaging procedure. Compared with the conventional SAR imaging algorithms, two major problems should be considered: 1) the scattering characteristics of target might vary from the frequency of signal and the angle of incidence, which seriously affects the coherence of received echo and 2) the imaging of the MWP-SAR system is more sensitive to motion errors and therefore requires higher accuracy of motion compensation processing. To solve the above issues, a high-precision imaging method for MWP-SAR is proposed. First, based on the attribute scattering center (ASC) model, this article analyzes the target scattering characteristics with different frequencies and incident angles. Then, according to the influence of scattering phase on MWP-SAR imaging, an optimal subaperture division algorithm is proposed to guarantee the coherence of each subaperture data and better imaging results. Furthermore, to compensate for the effects of high-order motion errors, this article proposes a motion error estimation algorithm based on subimage registration, where the full-aperture high-order motion errors can be divided into multiple linear components, and the flight trajectory of platform can be accurately reconstructed. Finally, a full-aperture time-domain high-precision imaging method is presented, and the effectiveness of the proposed formation is verified by both simulation and actual airborne MWP-SAR data processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In complex electromagnetic environments, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is severely affected by radio frequency interference (RFI) from other systems, such as ground-based radar, cellular networks, and global positioning systems, and this interference cannot be neglected. Pulse RFI (PRFI), a common form of RFI, can hinder SAR signal processing and image interpretation to varying degrees. The time-domain notch filtering method designed for mitigating PRFI can locate and mitigate the evident PRFI covered in SAR echo data, but it is helpless against PRFI hidden in a strong echo signal. In this article, a three-step approach is proposed to tackle the PRFI problem. In the proposed approach, the first step is to detect and locate PRFI; this is based on eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) and the short-time Fourier transform (STFT). The second step is to notch PRFI, and this is based on a time-domain notch filter. The third step is to recover the notched signal using a novel matrix completion strategy, which integrates with a robust low-rank matrix completion (LRMC) technique—i.e.,the singular value thresholding (SVT) algorithm—and a well-known Lagrange interpolation technique. Experimental results via simulated SAR data, Sentinel-1 level-0 raw data, and L-band airborne SAR raw data demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radar-based near-field 3-D imaging technology has recently attracted increasing attention in the field of security systems. This article presents a novel multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) synthetic aperture radar imaging algorithm for security checkpoints attached to a moving walkway. The proposed algorithm is characterized by transmitting-signal multiplexing on the Doppler frequency domain, which allows for a reduced data acquisition time compared with that of conventional time-division multiplexed MIMO systems and therefore achieves the image reconstruction of dangerous objects with smaller motion errors. This algorithm can be applied to 1-D antenna array systems, and image reconstruction is based on a back-projection algorithm with some modifications. The mathematical derivation of the algorithm and its advantages and disadvantages in comparison with those of a conventional system are detailed in this article. Details of numerical simulation of a point target as well as the experimental results of image reconstruction of a pinball and toy gun, using cascaded millimeter-wave sensors, are also presented for verifying the performance of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution wide-swath synthetic aperture radar (HRWS-SAR) imaging is highly desirable since it allows one to produce high-resolution SAR images of large areas during a short visit time. In this article, staggered coprime pulse repetition frequencies synthetic aperture radar (SCopSAR) is proposed. It divides the time during which a scatterer is illuminated by the antenna beam pattern into two halves where, in each half, pulses are transmitted at the rate of one of two sub-Nyquist pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs). Such PRFs are related to the Nyquist PRF using two coprime subsampling factors. This allows extending the maximum range swath width that can be imaged by a number of times that equals the smaller subsampling factor at the expense of a reduction in the azimuth resolution by half. It further allows for a reduction in the amount of data to be stored and communicated. SCopSAR is an imaging modality suitable for scenes that contain a small number of bright scatterers over a dark background which, for instance, is the case when imaging ships in a calm sea background. Compared with the techniques recently proposed in the literature, SCopSAR simplifies the radar requirements since it uses only one carrier frequency, one waveform, and one channel. Simulations and real ERS-2 satellite raw data are used to validate the theoretical findings presented in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radar imaging using the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) principle is a common method to obtain information about e.g., the surface of a target. However, most image formation algorithms for such systems assume (quasi-)static measurements. This may lead to errors in the processed images if the sensor is moving during the measurement process. This is especially the case for frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW)-based sensors since the signal duration is longer than in a pulsed system and the achievable bandwidth is much larger and introduces additional challenges. Motion compensation in the context of radar imaging is usually related to the correction of deviations from an ideal trajectory. In contrast, this article presents a method to take the sensor movement during a single FMCW ramp into account and therefore addresses the effects caused by a continuous path during the transmit/receive process. Hence, faster movement can be achieved during the scanning of the synthetic aperture without being bound by stop-and-go approximations. In addition, it will be shown that the algorithm is suitable to reduce systematic errors due to aliasing caused by spatial sampling below the Nyquist rate. For this purpose, this article presents simulations and measurement results, obtained by an ultrawideband $D$ -band FMCW radar operating between 122 and 170 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the pulse propagation in the near field of a transmitter and reflector from the perspective of radar sensing and imaging. The peaks of the radiated and reflected pulses were found to have traveled at superluminal speeds in the near field of radar. The conceptual explanation and experimental demonstration of the unique properties of the radiated and reflected pulses and their impact on near field radar imaging are presented in this article. To confirm the superluminal propagation, in this study, we considered several ultrawideband (UWB) sensors and scatterers. The physics behind the superluminal propagation and pulse shape change in the radar near field is demonstrated using the Huygens principle, and a method to improve the imaging of radar in the near field while using synthetic aperture techniques is also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A W-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar imaging system has been proposed. The $4 \times 4$ radar system that forms a 2-D virtual array operates at a center frequency of 94 GHz and bandwidth of 1 GHz with frequency-modulated continuous wave. A hybrid scheme comprising time- and frequency-division multiplexing is introduced for establishing orthogonal waveforms, where the transmit channels perform alternate transmission in pairs. The proposed scheme can efficiently extend the number of MIMO channels utilizing the existing hardware with simultaneous transmission. The design, implementation, measurements, and imaging results of the proposed radar system have been presented. The imaging performance was tested through outdoor experiments. The high-resolution performance was shown with images generated using a synthetic aperture radar. The impulse responses of all channels were measured, and the resolution was confirmed to be 0.15 m in all the channels. In addition, a human and a car at 100-m range were imaged using the proposed radar system. The polarimetric and interferometric capabilities were tested for multimode imaging with the MIMO configuration. Overall, the measurements and experimental results verified the feasibility of the proposed MIMO radar with hybrid scheme as a high-resolution multimode imaging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the design of two identical 1 × 4 patch antenna arrays for a linear frequency modulated (LFM) continuous wave (CW) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) prototype. The theoretical design is carried out by using the empirical equations available in the literature, while the design optimization is performed by numerical methods using two commercial full wave simulators. Once the antennas are built they are experimentally characterized and incorporated into a radar prototype implemented at the Ecuadorian Space Institute. The radar is tested in a probing polygon and the horizontal resolution is estimated. A measured azimuthal resolution value very close to the theoretical one is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of atmospheric turbulence, specifically the wet tropospheric delay, in that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with very long integration time, from minutes to hours, and wide swaths, such as the geosynchronous or geostationary SAR. In such systems, the atmospheric phase screen (APS) cannot be assumed frozen in time as for Low Earth Orbit or airborne SARs nor constant in space as for the ground-based SAR. The impact of space-time turbulence on SAR focusing is quantitatively assessed, and a novel focusing method that integrates APS estimation and compensation is proposed. Performances are evaluated as a function of SAR parameters, mainly the wavelength, based on a parametric model of the APS variogram, and results achieved by a simulating realistic scenario are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate estimation of internal solitary waves' (ISWs') amplitudes from radar images is important for understanding the ISW evolution, energy dissipation, and mixing processes. The in situ data from the Non-Linear Internal Wave Initiative experiment in the Mid-Atlantic Bight show many ISWs with amplitudes of 10 m or more in a shallow water depth of 80 m or less. Therefore, the higher order Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation in a two-layer system is needed to describe these large-amplitude ISWs instead of the classic KdV equation. Based on a simple theoretical radar imaging model, we develop a method to estimate large ISW amplitudes from distances between the positive and negative peaks of ISW signatures in radar images and a selection rule from the two possible amplitude solutions. Two groups of ISWs with large amplitudes, determined from the temperature records from nearby moorings, are observed in a RADARSAT synthetic-aperture-radar image and in marine X-band radar data collected during the experiment. We validate the method using the ISW signatures taken from these two cases. We find the estimated amplitudes to agree well with those determined from the moorings. The proposed method provides a relatively simple and accurate way to estimate large ISW amplitudes from radar images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatially variant apodization (SVA) is a nonlinear sidelobe reduction technique that improves sidelobe level and preserves resolution at the same time. This method implements a bidimensional finite impulse response filter with adaptive taps depending on image information. Some papers that have been previously published analyze SVA at the Nyquist rate or at higher rates focused on strip synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This paper shows that traditional SVA techniques are useless when the sensor operates with a squint angle. The reasons for this behaviour are analyzed, and a new implementation that largely improves the results is presented. The algorithm is applied to simulated SAR images in order to demonstrate the good quality achieved along with efficient computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]