Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar Based on Digital Beamforming and Waveform Diversity

This paper introduces innovative SAR system concepts for the acquisition of high resolution radar images with wide swath coverage from spaceborne platforms. The new concepts rely on the combination of advanced multi-channel SAR front-end architectures with novel operational modes. The architectures differ regarding their implementation complexity and it is shown that even a low number of channels is already well suited to significantly improve the imaging performance and to overcome fundamental limitations inherent to classical SAR systems. The more advanced concepts employ a multidimensional encoding of the transmitted waveforms to further improve the performance and to enable a new class of hybrid SAR imaging modes that are well suited to satisfy hitherto incompatible user requirements for frequent monitoring and detailed mapping. Implementation specific issues will be discussed and examples demonstrate the potential of the new techniques for different remote sensing applications

Ultra Wide Swath Imaging With Multi-Channel SAR Systems

Multi-channel radar systems allow for overcoming the inherent limitation of conventional synthetic aperture radar (SAR). An example is the combination of digital beamforming on receive in elevation with multi-aperture SAR signal reconstruction in azimuth which enables high-resolution wide-swath. As a next step, focus is turned to advanced concepts for the imaging of even wider swaths with high azimuth resolution. In this regard, the paper investigates the operation of multi-channel SAR systems in burst modes like ScanSAR or TOPS-SAR and analyses aspects of applying the multi-aperture reconstruction algorithm in combination with burst mode operation. The impact of the digital processing network on the SNR and the azimuth ambiguity-to-signal-ratio in multi-channel burst mode systems are considered and embedded in the design example of a ScanSAR system that enables the imaging of a 400 km wide swath with a geometric resolution of 5

The Case for Combining a Large Low-Band Very High Frequency Transmitter With Multiple Receiving Arrays for Geospace Research: A Geospace Radar

We argue that combining a high‐power, large‐aperture radar transmitter with several large‐aperture receiving arrays to make a geospace radar—a radar capable of probing near‐Earth space from the upper troposphere through to the solar corona—would transform geospace research. We review the emergence of incoherent scatter radar in the 1960s as an agent that unified early, pioneering research in geospace in a common theoretical, experimental, and instrumental framework, and we suggest that a geospace radar would have a similar effect on future developments in space weather research. We then discuss recent developments in radio‐array technology that could be exploited in the development of a geospace radar with new or substantially improved capabilities compared to the radars in use presently. A number of applications for a geospace radar with the new and improved capabilities are reviewed including studies of meteor echoes, mesospheric and stratospheric turbulence, ionospheric flows, plasmaspheric and ionospheric irregularities, and reflection from the solar corona and coronal mass ejections. We conclude with a summary of technical requirements

Venus Radar Mapper (VRM): Multimode radar system design

The surface of Venus has remained a relative mystery because of the very dense atmosphere that is opaque to visible radiation and, thus, normal photographic techniques used to explore the other terrestrial objects in the solar system are useless. The atmosphere is, however, almost transparent to radar waves and images of the surface have been produced via Earth-based and orbital radars. The technique of obtaining radar images of a surface is variously called side looking radar, imaging radar, or synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The radar requires a moving platform in which the antenna is side looking. High resolution is obtained in the cross-track or range direction by conventional radar pulse encoding. In the along-track or azimuth direction, the resolution would normally be the antenna beam width, but for the SAR case, a much longer antenna (or much sharper beam) is obtained by moving past a surface target as shown, and then combining the echoes from many pulses, by using the Doppler data, to obtain the images. The radar design of the Venus Radar Mapper (VRM) is discussed. It will acquire global radar imagery and altimetry data of the surface of Venus

Cassini RADAR Sequence Planning and Instrument Performance

The Cassini RADAR is a multimode instrument used to map the surface of Titan, the atmosphere of Saturn, the Saturn ring system, and to explore the properties of the icy satellites. Four different active mode bandwidths and a passive radiometer mode provide a wide range of flexibility in taking measurements. The scatterometer mode is used for real aperture imaging of Titan, high-altitude (around 20 000 km) synthetic aperture imaging of Titan and Iapetus, and long range (up to 700 000 km) detection of disk integrated albedos for satellites in the Saturn system. Two SAR modes are used for high- and medium-resolution (300-1000 m) imaging of Titan's surface during close flybys. A high-bandwidth altimeter mode is used for topographic profiling in selected areas with a range resolution of about 35 m. The passive radiometer mode is used to map emission from Titan, from Saturn's atmosphere, from the rings, and from the icy satellites. Repeated scans with differing polarizations using both active and passive data provide data that can usefully constrain models of surface composition and structure. The radar and radiometer receivers show very good stability, and calibration observations have provided an absolute calibration good to about 1.3 dB. Relative uncertainties within a pass and between passes can be even smaller. Data are currently being processed and delivered to the planetary data system at quarterly intervals one year after being acquired

Processing of Sliding Spotlight and TOPS SAR Data Using Baseband Azimuth Scaling

This paper presents an efficient phase preserving processor for the focusing of data acquired in sliding spotlight and TOPS (Terrain Observation by Progressive Scans) imaging modes. They share in common a linear variation of the Doppler centroid along the azimuth dimension, which is due to a steering of the antenna (either mechanically or electronically) throughout the data take. Existing approaches for the azimuth processing can become inefficient due to the additional processing to overcome the folding in the focused domain. In this paper a new azimuth scaling approach is presented to perform the azimuth processing, whose kernel is exactly the same for sliding spotlight and TOPS modes. The possibility to use the proposed approach to process ScanSAR data, as well as a discussion concerning staring spotlight, are also included. Simulations with point-targets and real data acquired by TerraSAR-X in sliding spotlight and TOPS modes are used to validate the developed algorithm

A Network-Based Enhanced Spectral Diversity Approach for TOPS Time-Series Analysis

For multitemporal analysis of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired with a terrain observation by progressive scan (TOPS) mode, all acquisitions from a given satellite track must be coregistered to a reference coordinate system with accuracies better than 0.001 of a pixel (assuming full SAR resolution) in the azimuth direction. Such a high accuracy can be achieved through geometric coregistration, using precise satellite orbits and a digital elevation model, followed by a refinement step using a time-series analysis of coregistration errors. These errors represent the misregistration between all TOPS acquisitions relative to the reference coordinate system. We develop a workflow to estimate the time series of azimuth misregistration using a network-based enhanced spectral diversity (NESD) approach, in order to reduce the impact of temporal decorrelation on coregistration. Example time series of misregistration inferred for five tracks of Sentinel-1 TOPS acquisitions indicates a maximum relative azimuth misregistration of less than 0.01 of the full azimuth resolution between the TOPS acquisitions in the studied areas. Standard deviation of the estimated misregistration time series for different stacks varies from 1.1e-3 to 2e-3 of the azimuth resolution, equivalent to 1.6-2.8 cm orbital uncertainty in the azimuth direction. These values fall within the 1-sigma orbital uncertainty of the Sentinel-1 orbits and imply that orbital uncertainty is most likely the main source of the constant azimuth misregistration between different TOPS acquisitions. We propagate the uncertainty of individual misregistration estimated with ESD to the misregistration time series estimated with NESD and investigate the different challenges for operationalizing NESD

Cassini Titan Radar Mapper

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper is a multimode radar instrument designed to probe the optically inaccessible surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The instrument is to be included in the payload of the Cassini Saturn Mission, scheduled for launch in 1995. The individual modes of Cassini Radar Mapper will allow topographic mapping and surface imaging at few hundred meters resolution. The requirements that lay behind the design are briefly discussed, and the configuration and capability of the instrument are described. The present limited knowledge of Titan's surface and the measurement requirements imposed on the radar instrument are addressed. Also discussed are the Cassini mission and the projected orbits, which imposed another set of design constraints that led to the multitude of modes and to an unconventional antenna configuration. The antenna configuration and the different radar modes are described

Project MEDSAT

During the winter term of 1991, two design courses at the University of Michigan worked on a joint project, MEDSAT. The two design teams consisted of the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Spacite System Design and Aerospace Engineering 483 (Aero 483) Aerospace System Design. In collaboration, they worked to produce MEDSAT, a satellite and scientific payload whose purpose was to monitor environmental conditions over Chiapas, Mexico. Information gained from the sensing, combined with regional data, would be used to determine the potential for malaria occurrence in that area. The responsibilities of AOSS 605 consisted of determining the remote sensing techniques, the data processing, and the method to translate the information into a usable output. Aero 483 developed the satellite configuration and the subsystems required for the satellite to accomplish its task. The MEDSAT project is an outgrowth of work already being accomplished by NASA's Biospheric and Disease Monitoring Program and Ames Research Center. NASA's work has been to develop remote sensing techniques to determine the abundance of disease carriers and now this project will place the techniques aboard a satellite. MEDSAT will be unique in its use of both a Synthetic Aperture Radar and visual/IR sensor to obtain comprehensive monitoring of the site. In order to create a highly feasible system, low cost was a high priority. To obtain this goal, a light satellite configuration launched by the Pegasus launch vehicle was used

Monostatic Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Using Commercial WiMAX Transceivers In the License-exempt Spectrum

The past half-century witnessed an evolution of synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Boosted by digital signal processing (DSP), a variety of SAR imaging algorithms have been developed, in which the wavenumber domain algorithm is mature for airborne SAR and independent of signal waveforms. Apart from the algorithm development, there is a growing interest in how to acquire the raw data of targets’ echoes before the DSP for SAR imaging in a cost-effective way. For the data acquisition, various studies over the past 15 years have shed light on utilizing the signal generated from the ubiquitous broadband wireless technology – orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). However, the purpose of this thesis is to enable commercial OFDM-based wireless systems to work as an airborne SAR sensor. The unlicensed devices of Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) are the first option, owing to their accessibility, similarity and economy. This dissertation first demonstrates the feasibility of applying WiMAX to SAR by discussing their similar features. Despite the similarities they share, the compatibility of the two technologies is undermined by a series of problems resulted from WiMAX transceiver mechanisms and industrial rules for radiated power. In order to directly apply commercial WiMAX base station transceivers in unlicensed band to airborne SAR application, we propose a radio-frequency (RF) front design together with a signal processing means. To be specific, a double-pole, double-throw (DPDT) switch is inserted between an antenna and two WiMAX transceivers for generating pulsed signal. By simulations, the transmitted power of the SAR sensor is lower than 0dBm, while its imaging range can be over 10km for targets with relatively large radar cross section (RCS), such as a ship. Its range resolution is 9.6m whereas its cross-range resolution is finer than 1m. Equipped with the multi-mode, this SAR sensor is further enhanced to satisfy the requirements of diversified SAR applications. For example, the width of the scan-mode SAR’s range swath is 2.1km, over five times the width of other modes. Vital developed Matlab code is given in Appendix D, and its correctness is shown by comparing with the image of chirped SAR. To summarize, the significance of this dissertation is to propose, for the first time, a design of directly leveraging commercial OFDM-based systems for airborne SAR imaging. Compared with existing designs of airborne SAR, it is a promising low-cost solution