Polar format agorithm using chirp scaling for spotlight SAR image formation

Abstract

A novel implementation of the polar format algorithm (PFA) using the principle of chirp scaling (PCS) for spotlight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation is addressed. A PFA completely free of interpolation has been achieved in moderate squinted imaging geometry. The presented approach consists of the range and azimuth scaling of the polar samples, in which only fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) and complex vector multiplications are involved. Following different processing chains, the dechirped and the chirped SAR signals are treated separately in this paper. Relative to the classic polyphase filter that uses the long sinc kernel, the new solution is able to attain a comparable result, but is much quicker by exploiting inherent properties of the linear frequency modulated (LFM) signal. Point target simulation has validated the presented methodology.