An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations
The paper proposes a flexible and efficient wavenumber domain processing scheme suited for close formations of low earth orbiting (LEO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors hosted on micro-satellites or CubeSats. Such systems aim to generate a high-resolution image by combining data acquired by ea...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/6/1644 |
| _version_ | 1827747809395212288 |
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| author | Naomi Petrushevsky Andrea Monti Guarnieri Marco Manzoni Claudio Prati Stefano Tebaldini |
| author_facet | Naomi Petrushevsky Andrea Monti Guarnieri Marco Manzoni Claudio Prati Stefano Tebaldini |
| author_sort | Naomi Petrushevsky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The paper proposes a flexible and efficient wavenumber domain processing scheme suited for close formations of low earth orbiting (LEO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors hosted on micro-satellites or CubeSats. Such systems aim to generate a high-resolution image by combining data acquired by each sensor with a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF). This is usually performed by first merging the different channels in the wavenumber domain, followed by bulk focusing. In this paper, we reverse this paradigm by first upsampling and focusing each acquisition and then combining the focused images to form a high-resolution, unambiguous image. Such a procedure is suited to estimate and mitigate artifacts generated by incorrect positioning of the sensors. An efficient wave–number method is proposed to focus data by adequately coping with the orbit curvature. Two implementations are provided with different quality/efficiency. The image quality in phase preservation, resolution, sidelobes, and ambiguities suppression is evaluated by simulating both point and distributed scatterers. Finally, a demonstration of the capability to compensate for ambiguities due to a small across-track baseline between sensors is provided by simulating a realistic X-band multi-sensor acquisition starting from a stack of COSMO-SkyMed images. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:57:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a3b0c0d147e941afaf9c273801c19b9b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:57:29Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-a3b0c0d147e941afaf9c273801c19b9b2023-11-17T13:39:58ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-03-01156164410.3390/rs15061644An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR FormationsNaomi Petrushevsky0Andrea Monti Guarnieri1Marco Manzoni2Claudio Prati3Stefano Tebaldini4Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, ItalyDipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, ItalyDipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, ItalyDipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, ItalyDipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, ItalyThe paper proposes a flexible and efficient wavenumber domain processing scheme suited for close formations of low earth orbiting (LEO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors hosted on micro-satellites or CubeSats. Such systems aim to generate a high-resolution image by combining data acquired by each sensor with a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF). This is usually performed by first merging the different channels in the wavenumber domain, followed by bulk focusing. In this paper, we reverse this paradigm by first upsampling and focusing each acquisition and then combining the focused images to form a high-resolution, unambiguous image. Such a procedure is suited to estimate and mitigate artifacts generated by incorrect positioning of the sensors. An efficient wave–number method is proposed to focus data by adequately coping with the orbit curvature. Two implementations are provided with different quality/efficiency. The image quality in phase preservation, resolution, sidelobes, and ambiguities suppression is evaluated by simulating both point and distributed scatterers. Finally, a demonstration of the capability to compensate for ambiguities due to a small across-track baseline between sensors is provided by simulating a realistic X-band multi-sensor acquisition starting from a stack of COSMO-SkyMed images.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/6/1644coherent SAR formationsMIMO SARazimuth multichannel SARSAR wave number domain focusingdigital beamformingSAR interferometry |
| spellingShingle | Naomi Petrushevsky Andrea Monti Guarnieri Marco Manzoni Claudio Prati Stefano Tebaldini An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations Remote Sensing coherent SAR formations MIMO SAR azimuth multichannel SAR SAR wave number domain focusing digital beamforming SAR interferometry |
| title | An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations |
| title_full | An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations |
| title_fullStr | An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations |
| title_short | An Operational Processing Framework for Spaceborne SAR Formations |
| title_sort | operational processing framework for spaceborne sar formations |
| topic | coherent SAR formations MIMO SAR azimuth multichannel SAR SAR wave number domain focusing digital beamforming SAR interferometry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/6/1644 |
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