On the Processing of Very High Resolution Spaceborne SAR Data

Kurzfassung

This paper addresses several important aspects that need to be considered for the processing of spaceborne SAR data with resolutions in the decimeter range. In particular, it will be shown how the motion of the satellite during the transmission/reception of the chirp signal and the effect of the troposphere deteriorate the impulse response function if not properly considered. Further aspects that have been investigated include the curved orbit, the array pattern for electronically steered antennas, as well as considerations within the processing itself. For each aspect a solution is proposed, and the complete focusing methodology is expounded and validated using simulated point targets and staring spotlight data acquired by TerraSAR-X with 16 cm azimuth resolution and 300 MHz range bandwidth.