Retrieving 3-D Topography by Using a Single-Antenna Squint-Mode Airborne SAR

Abstract

In this paper, a novel method is proposed for retrieving 3-D topography of the ground surface by using a single-antenna squint-mode airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The main idea of the method is based on the fact that the spatial 3-D location of a target can be found as the intersection of the range sphere, the Doppler cone, and the elevation plane of the antenna pattern. An accurate estimation of the Doppler centroid for each resolution cell is required to realize this method. Experimental results obtained with a Ku-band airborne SAR are presented. The method calls for using a precise calibrated attitude determination unit.