Digital technique for generating synthetic aperture radar images

Abstract

This paper describes a digital processing method applicable to a synthetic aperture radar, to be carried by the space shuttle or by satellites. The method uses an earth-fixed coordinate system in which corrective procedures are invoked to compensate for errors introduced by the satellite motion, earth curvature, and wavefront curvature. Among the compensations discussed are those of the coordinate system, skewness, roll, pitch, yaw, earth rotation, and others. The application of a Fast Fourier Transform in the numerical processing of the two-dimensional convolution is discussed in detail.