Raw Data Based Two-Aperture SAR Ground Moving Target Indication

Abstract-This paper investigates the capability of classical two-channel SAR ground moving target indication (GMTI) techniques, such as Displaced Phase Center Antenna (DPCA) or Along-Track Interferometry (ATI) when implemented on azimuth-uncompressed SAR data, rather than the processed SAR image. By transforming the data into the Doppler frequency domain a complete target detection and parameter estimation scheme is proposed. In contrast to the conventional image based algorithms, the proposed techniques are able to detect even fast movers. The GMTI feasibility is demonstrated with measured airborne data

Motion Parameter Estimation of Doppler-Ambiguous Moving Targets in SAR-GMTI

In an along-track interferometric SAR system, the discrete sampling of moving target signals can give rise to two types of ambiguity: Doppler ambiguity, and interferometric angle ambiguity. These ambiguities lead to ambiguities in target velocity estimation. Range cell migration of moving targets is unambiguous in target velocity. Hence, it can be used for resolving the ambiguities in target velocity estimation mentioned above. The wave number domain algorithm as well as the chirp scaling algorithm is adapted to moving target signals. In order to focus moving target signals with arbitrary velocities both approaches are extended to arbitrary Doppler frequency ands. Moving target signals distributed over two neighbouring PRF bands are especially difficult to detect and analyze because the sgnal splits into two parts. It is shown that the two parts appear at different positions in the SAR image and have different ATI phases. They show up as two weaker targets since the energy is split between them. It is demonstrated how the two targets can be identified as possibly the same target, and how they can be properly focussed by adaptation of the SAR focussing algorithms

A New Method to Create a Virtual Third Antenna from a Two-Channel SAR-GMTI System

Two-channel SAR-GMTI systems are suboptimal for moving target motion parameter estimation. Indeed, the ATI phase estimate of the across-track velocity component for a moving target is biased to lower values depending on the target signal to clutter ratio and the target across-track velocity. Additional antenna diversity can introduce additional degrees of freedom that can eliminate the bias problem. Aperture switching is an accepted method to virtually increase the number of channels without adding new hardware. One such mode is the RADARSAT-$2$ Toggle mode cite{Chiu_2006}. This paper proposes a new processing method to create a similar effective phase center configuration as the RADARSAT-$2$ Toggle mode from already recorded two-channel SAR data. This is achieved by delaying and combining the recorded two-channel measurements. The combination operation manifests not only a third phase center halfway between the phase centers of the two-channel system, but also a different antenna length of the virtual third antenna which requires a modification of the DPCA-ATI processing algorithm. The DPCA-ATI performance of the new mode is assessed and compared to ATI from the original two-channel mode

High-resolution wide-swath SAR

This chapter presents the principle of high-resolution wide-swath synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a means for imaging wide areas at high resolution. The material covers the limitations of achieving wide-swath and high-resolution with a traditional SAR, the basic idea of using a multi-aperture SAR to overcome this limitation and current implementations where multi-aperture (or multiple antenna) systems collect data in an ideal configuration. Overviews of approaches to processing data collected in nonideal configurations, such as when the data are collected with non-uniform sampling and/or when they are collected with a squinted system, are then introduced. Armed with an overview, the chapter introduces the theory of multi-aperture SAR processing with the objective of generalizing the concept of high-resolution wide-swath to higher resolution, wider-swath SAR. This enables application of the added degrees of freedom to other modes such as spotlight and high-resolution stripmap. In order to present the theory and the generalizations, and in consideration of possible future systems, the theory is derived in the wavenumber domain for wideband and/or widebeam, space-based systems with special cases for narrowband systems presented as appropriate. In contrast to much of the current literature, the theory views the antenna patterns as the key provider of the additional degrees of freedom and proposes to utilize other pattern characteristics in addition to the phase-centre separation to improve imaging. For this reason, special care is taken in developing the antenna pattern dependence in the signal model. The approach for signal reconstruction focuses, mainly, on the minimum mean-square error method as it is quite general and includes, as special cases, the well-known projection approach as well as the space-time adaptive processing (STAP) approach. Further, it inherently, simultaneously improves the geometrical and radiometrical resolution due to favourable weighting by the antenna pattern and a less aggressive ambiguity prescription as compared to other techniques. The approach also naturally incorporates other more generalized system configurations where, for instance, the antenna patterns have, not only different phase-centres, but also different shapes or different pointing directions. As an added feature, the presented method is robust against matrix inversion problems which can render the projection approach intractable. The special case of a phased-array multi-aperture system is presented

Space-based SAR ground moving target indication

Today's demand for space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data has grown to the point where significant commercial funding of advanced space-borne radar system development has been being made available. The current generation of commercial space-based SAR imaging satellites, such as RADARSAT-2, Sentinel-1, TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X (PAZ), COSMO-SkyMED and ALOS-2, operate at a single frequency (L-, Cand X-band) and are based on active phased array antenna technology that offers beam agility and adds polarization diversity. Consequently, these modern satellites are equipped with more than one receive channel (i.e., AD-converter) that can also be utilized to record measurements from multiple apertures in along-track direction. This is the principal prerequisite for a ground moving target indication (GMTI)1 capability. While space-based SAR GMTI offers many advantages like global ground coverage and access to strategic regions, it also faces several obstacles such as high satellite velocity, Earth rotation and oftentimes small target reflection energy caused by the enormous distances of more than 1,000 km among others. This book chapter presents the state-of-the-art of space-based SAR-GMTI science and technology with focus on recent advances and the latest direction of research and development (R&D) activities. Owing to an exponential cost jump, technological advances of space-based radars especially with regard to increased power, increased aperture sizes and additional receiver channels have only been somewhat incremental in the last decades. Spacecraft with more than two parallel receive paths are only expected to materialize two generations down the line. Hence, current R&D put emphasis on innovative new concepts trying to circumvent these technological limitations thereby often pushing the resources on existing SAR payloads to their limits.2 Virtually all of these concepts are accompanied by cutting-edge but complex and resource-hungry signal-processing algorithms that only recently became feasible based on the fast-paced evolution in computing power over the last decade. Many of the presented proof-of-concept studies are considered building blocks of future operational space-based SAR capabilities, for instance, the synergy between high-resolution-wide-swath (HRWS) imaging and motion indication and estimation. This chapter attempts to provide a comprehensive, in-depth overview of the theory and the radar signalprocessing techniques required for space-based SAR-GMTI corroborated by real multichannel data from RADARSAT-2