In the process of airborne radar imaging, when encountering certain scenarios (e.g., the Gobi desert), the low number or absence of strong scattering points will lead to azimuth scattering in the imaging results. In this study, we propose an autofocusing method based on the traditional phase gradient autofocus (PGA) algorithm that determines the optimal number of strong scattering points in each azimuth sub-aperture according to the scene (i.e., adaptively) and uses the mean amplitudes of these points in each azimuth sub-aperture of the scene to make a threshold judgment. In this way, the optimal number of strong scattering points is iteratively selected for subsequent PGA processing. The focusing quality of the image is significantly improved through the combination of these algorithms with onboard radar imaging. The simulation results prove the effectiveness of the method proposed in this study, compared with traditional PGA.
Read full abstract