The 2-Looks TOPS Mode: Enhanced Sensitivity to Ground Displacement in Azimuth Direction with Burst-Mode SAR Systems. Demonstration with TerraSAR-X

Abstract

The Terrain Observation by Progressive Scans (TOPS) SAR acquisition mode achieves wide coverage area by employing subapertures. This way multiple subswaths can be acquired. It overcomes the problems of scalloping and azimuth-varying ambiguities inherent to the ScanSAR mode by introducing a steering of the beam in the along-track direction. The drawback is that, due to the burst operation mode, the azimuth resolution is strongly worsened with respect to the conventional StripMap mode. This reduces the performance on the retrieval of the ground displacement in the azimuth direction. In this contribution we provide an update on the last developments with our proposed 2-looks TOPS mode. This mode has been devised to mitigate the degraded sensitivity on the retrieval of ground deformation azimuth shifts of 1-look TOPS acquisitions. We will present the last improvements to the mode as well as updated results with time-series of experimental TerraSAR-X data.