Locating the Position of Radio Frequency Interference Sources in TerraSAR-X Products

Abstract

TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X acquire X band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data of the whole Earth. As the used frequency band is shared with other terrestrial systems, external signals may unintentionally be recorded during SAR imaging. These occurrences are called Radio Frequency Interferences (RFIs). Especially for future SAR missions with much larger bandwidths than TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X it is important to understand these RFIs to potentially establish countermeasures to suppress them. The goal of this paper is to estimate the location of such RFI signals. This is done by fitting the azimuth antenna pattern to the received power signal of the RFI. As an experimental verification the method is tested with an acquisition containing self-induced RFI.