Double-Channel Bistatic SAR System With Spaceborne Illuminator for 2-D and 3-D SAR Remote Sensing

Abstract

This paper presents a double-channel hybrid bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system. It can be implemented with the available illuminator (e.g., spaceborne and airborne SAR systems) to acquire the 2-D and 3-D microwave images for remote-sensing applications. This system can be used as a test system for the validation of complex bistatic acquisitions, novel synchronization algorithms, and advanced imaging techniques. In this paper, we will demonstrate the time and phase synchronization strategies, fast time-domain imaging algorithm, 2-D bistatic SAR, and 3-D bistatic stereo radargrammetry in SAR images. Based on the proposed bistatic system, the acquired bistatic image has a much better sensitivity than its monostatic counterpart, which will facilitate the detection and recognition of targets based on their characteristic and bistatic scattering behaviors. Finally, the experiment results highlight the differences between monotatic and bistatic SAR images.