Design Technology of Synthetic Aperture Radar

An authoritative work on Synthetic Aperture Radar system engineering, with key focus on high resolution imaging, moving target indication, and system engineering technology Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a powerful microwave remote sensing technique that is used to create high resolution two or three-dimensional representations of objects, such as landscapes, independent of weather conditions and sunlight illumination. SAR technology is a multidisciplinary field that involves microwave technology, antenna technology, signal processing, and image information processing. The use of SAR technology continues grow at a rapid pace in a variety of applications such as high-resolution wide-swath observation, multi-azimuth information acquisition, high-temporal information acquisition, 3-D terrain mapping, and image quality improvement. Design Technology of Synthetic Aperture Radar provides detailed coverage of the fundamental concepts, theories, technology, and design of SAR systems and sub-systems. Supported by the author’s over two decades of research and practice experience in the field, this in-depth volume systematically describes SAR design and presents the latest research developments. Providing examination of all topics relevant to SAR—from radar and antenna system design to receiver technology and signal and image information processing—this comprehensive resource: Provides wide-ranging, up-to-date examination of all major topics related to SAR science, systems, and software Includes guidelines to conduct grounding system designs and analysis Offers coverage of all SAR algorithm classes and detailed SAR algorithms suitable for enabling software implementations Surveys SAR and computed imaging literature of the last sixty years Emphasizes high resolution imaging, moving target indication, and system engineering Design Technology of Synthetic Aperture Radar is indispensable for graduate students majoring in SAR system design, microwave antenna, signal and information processing as well as engineers and technicians involved in SAR system techniques.

Table of Contents:
About the Book xiii Preface xv List of Acronyms xvii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview 1 1.2 SAR Applications 3 1.2.1 Military Applications 3 1.2.1.1 Military Intelligence 4 1.2.1.2 Moving Target Detection 4 1.2.1.3 Military Topography and Mapping 4 1.2.1.4 Detection of Marine Meteorology and Hydrology 5 1.2.2 Civil Applications 5 1.2.2.1 Geological Exploration 5 1.2.2.2 Oceanographic Research 5 1.2.2.3 Forestry Research 5 1.2.2.4 Deformation Monitoring 6 1.3 Features of SAR 6 1.3.1 Radar Loading Platforms 6 1.3.2 Radar System 7 1.3.3 Information and Intelligence Processing 8 1.4 New Technologies of SAR 8 1.4.1 Digital Array Technology 9 1.4.2 MIMO Technology 10 1.4.3 Microwave Photonic Technology 11 1.4.4 Miniaturization 12 References 12 2 Radar System Design 15 2.1 Overview 15 2.2 Radar Equations 17 2.2.1 Conventional Radar Equation 17 2.2.2 SAR Equation 18 2.3 Radar System Parameters 20 2.3.1 Antenna and Channel Number 20 2.3.1.1 Reflector Antenna 22 2.3.1.2 Planar Array Antenna 23 2.3.1.3 Single-Input, Single-Output 25 2.3.1.4 Single-Input, Multiple-Output 25 2.3.1.5 Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output 28 2.3.2 Antenna Size 29 2.3.2.1 Ambiguity Limit 29 2.3.2.2 Swath Width and Resolution Limit 30 2.3.2.3 NE𝜎0 Restriction 30 2.3.3 Resolution and Swath Width 30 2.3.3.1 Resolution 30 2.3.3.2 Swath Width 31 2.3.4 Pulse Repetition Frequency 31 2.3.4.1 Doppler Bandwidth 33 2.3.4.2 Data Reception Interspersed with Transmitting Event 34 2.3.4.3 Avoiding Nadir Echo 35 2.3.5 Ambiguity 35 2.3.5.1 Range Ambiguity 36 2.3.5.2 Azimuth Ambiguity 37 2.3.6 Beam Position Design 38 2.3.6.1 Range Direction Beam Width 39 2.3.6.2 Instantaneous Signal Bandwidth 40 2.3.6.3 Swath Position Selection 40 2.4 Imaging Mode 40 2.4.1 Strip-Map Mode 41 2.4.1.1 Signal Model 41 2.4.1.2 Resolution and Swath Width 43 2.4.2 Scanning Mode 44 2.4.2.1 Sequential Relationship 45 2.4.2.2 Signal Model 46 2.4.2.3 Resolution and Swath Width 46 2.4.2.4 Scalloping Effect 47 2.4.3 Spotlight Mode 48 2.4.3.1 Signal Characteristics 49 2.4.3.2 Resolution 49 2.4.4 Sliding Spotlight Mode 50 2.4.4.1 Signal Model 51 2.4.4.2 Resolution and Swath Width 52 2.4.5 Mosaic Mode 53 2.4.5.1 Sequential Relationship 53 2.4.5.2 Signal Characteristics 55 2.4.5.3 Resolution 55 2.4.6 TOPS Mode 55 2.4.6.1 Sequential Relationship 56 2.4.6.2 Signal Characteristics 57 2.4.6.3 Azimuth Resolution 57 2.5 Moving Target Working Mode 59 2.5.1 GMTI 59 2.5.1.1 Signal Characteristics 60 2.5.1.2 MDV 62 2.5.1.3 Azimuth Angle Measurement Accuracy 63 2.5.1.4 Detection Capability 64 2.5.2 Marine Moving Target Indication 65 2.5.2.1 Signal Characteristics 65 2.5.2.2 Operating Range 67 2.5.2.3 Detection Rate and False Alarm Rate 68 2.5.3 Airborne Moving Target Indication 68 2.5.3.1 Signal Characteristics 69 2.5.3.2 Operating Range of Airborne Target 71 2.5.3.3 Minimum Detectable Velocity of the Moving Target 71 References 72 3 Antenna System 75 3.1 Overview 75 3.2 Antenna Design and Analysis 76 3.2.1 Basic Parameters 77 3.2.1.1 Bandwidth 77 3.2.1.2 Scanning Range 77 3.2.1.3 Beam Width 77 3.2.1.4 Antenna Gain 78 3.2.1.5 Side Lobe Level 78 3.2.2 Antenna Aperture Size 78 3.2.2.1 From the Ambiguity Point of View 78 3.2.2.2 Resolution Limitation 80 3.2.2.3 Swath Width Limitation 80 3.2.2.4 System Sensitivity Limitation 80 3.2.3 Scanning Feature 81 3.2.4 Internal Calibration 83 3.3 Antenna Array 85 3.3.1 Microstrip Patch Antenna 85 3.3.1.1 Microstrip Antenna Analysis 86 3.3.1.2 Microstrip Antenna Design 87 3.3.2 Dipole Antenna 92 3.3.2.1 Antenna Element Structure 93 3.3.2.2 Theoretic Analysis 93 3.3.2.3 Typical Example 95 3.3.3 Waveguide Slot Antenna 96 3.3.3.1 Theoretical Analysis 98 3.3.3.2 Computational Method 99 3.3.3.3 Typical Example 100 3.4 Airborne Antenna Structure 102 3.4.1 Airborne Antenna Environment Condition 103 3.4.2 Airborne Antenna Structure Design 104 3.5 Spaceborne Antenna Structure 105 3.5.1 Spaceborne Antenna Environment Requirements 106 3.5.1.1 Mechanical Environment 106 3.5.1.2 Weightlessness 106 3.5.1.3 Vacuum State 106 3.5.1.4 Temperature Variation 106 3.5.1.5 Space Radiation Environment 107 3.5.2 Antenna Structure and Mechanism Design 107 3.5.2.1 Analysis of Structure and Mechanism Design 108 3.5.2.2 Structure and Mechanism Materials 109 3.5.2.3 Structure and Mechanism Testing 110 References 110 4 Transmit/Receive Module 113 4.1 Overview 113 4.2 Basic Demands 114 4.2.1 Amplitude and Phase Accuracy 114 4.2.2 Amplitude and Phase Consistency 114 4.2.3 Assembly Adaptability of Antenna Arrays 115 4.2.3.1 Single-Channel and Multichannel Configurations 115 4.2.3.2 Feeding and Assembling Method 116 4.2.4 Reliability 117 4.3 T/R Module Design 118 4.3.1 Electrical Design 119 4.3.1.1 Receiver 119 4.3.1.2 Transmitter 122 4.3.1.3 Beam Steering and Electric Interface 124 4.3.1.4 Power Supply and Time Sequence 125 4.3.2 Structure Design 126 4.3.2.1 Physical Interface 126 4.3.2.2 Thermal Dissipation 126 4.3.2.3 Protection of the T/R Module 130 4.3.3 EMC 130 4.3.3.1 Self-Oscillation and Cavity Effect 131 4.3.3.2 Power Integrity 132 4.3.3.3 Grounding and Slot Coupling 133 4.3.3.4 Electrostatic Prevention 133 4.3.3.5 Electrical Wiring 134 4.3.4 Environment Adaptability 134 4.3.4.1 Mechanical Environment 135 4.3.4.2 Thermal Environment 135 4.3.4.3 Total Dose 135 4.3.4.4 Micro-Discharge 136 4.4 T/R Module Components 138 4.4.1 Amplifier 138 4.4.1.1 LNA 138 4.4.1.2 Power Amplifier 140 4.4.2 Microwave Control Device 142 4.4.2.1 Attenuator 142 4.4.2.2 Phase Shifter 143 4.4.2.3 Transceiver Switch 145 4.4.2.4 Limiter 146 4.4.2.5 Circulator/Isolator 147 4.4.3 Wave and Time Sequential Control Device 148 4.4.3.1 Serial-to-Parallel Converter 148 4.4.3.2 Power Supply Modulator 149 4.5 T/R Module Manufacture 150 4.5.1 Package 151 4.5.2 Substrate 151 4.5.2.1 Composite Dielectric Microstrip Substrate 152 4.5.2.2 Ceramic Microstrip Substrate 152 4.5.2.3 LTCC 152 4.5.2.4 Aluminum Nitride Ceramic 152 4.5.2.5 Composite Laminated Multilayer Microstrip Substrate 153 4.5.3 Micro-Assembly Technology 154 4.5.3.1 Eutectic Bonding 154 4.5.3.2 Large-Area Substrate Bonding 155 4.5.3.3 Glue and Attachment 155 4.5.3.4 Wire Bonding 155 4.5.3.5 Micro-Assembly Procedure 156 4.5.4 Hermetic Package 156 4.5.5 Testing and Debugging 157 References 159 5 Receiver Technology 161 5.1 Overview 161 5.1.1 Digitization 161 5.1.2 Microelectronics 162 5.1.3 Receiver Classification 162 5.1.4 Basic Parameters 163 5.1.4.1 Signal Bandwidth 163 5.1.4.2 Sensitivity and Noise Figure 164 5.1.4.3 Gain and Dynamic Range 164 5.1.4.4 Amplitude and Phase Distortion 165 5.1.4.5 Multichannel Amplitude and Phase Stability and Consistency 165 5.1.4.6 Frequency Stability 165 5.2 Receiver Technology 165 5.2.1 Analog Demodulation Receiver 166 5.2.2 Digital Demodulation Receiver 167 5.2.2.1 Oversampling Technology 168 5.2.2.2 Quadrature Sampling Technology 168 5.2.2.3 Digital Mixing and Low-Pass Filtering 169 5.2.2.4 Digital Interpolation 169 5.2.2.5 Hilbert Transform 170 5.2.3 Dechirp Receiver 171 5.2.4 Multiband Receiver 171 5.2.5 Multichannel Receiver 172 5.2.6 Monolithic Receiver 173 5.2.6.1 MCM Design 175 5.2.6.2 Multilayer Substrate 175 5.2.6.3 Design of MCM Mounting 176 5.3 Frequency Synthesizer Source 177 5.3.1 Direct Analog Frequency Synthesis 178 5.3.2 Phase-Locked Frequency Synthesis 179 5.3.3 DDS 181 5.3.4 Antivibration Characteristic of Frequency Synthesizer 183 5.4 Wideband Waveform Generation 184 5.4.1 DDS-Based Direct Waveform Generation 185 5.4.2 Parallel DDS IF Waveform Generation 186 5.4.3 Digital Baseband Waveform Generation 187 5.4.4 Multiplex Splicing Waveform Generation 189 5.4.5 Sub-Band Concurrent Wideband Waveform Generation 190 References 191 6 Signal Processing 193 6.1 Overview 193 6.2 SAR Signal Processing Method 193 6.2.1 Time Domain Correlation 193 6.2.2 Frequency Domain Matched Filtering 194 6.2.3 Spectrum Analysis Method 194 6.3 Operating Mode and Signal Property 194 6.3.1 Azimuth Antenna Scanning 195 6.3.2 Range Antenna Scanning 197 6.3.3 2D Antenna Scanning 197 6.4 SAR Imaging 199 6.4.1 SAR Echo 199 6.4.2 Imaging Algorithm 200 6.5 Doppler Parameter Estimation and Motion Compensation 201 6.5.1 Doppler Parameter Estimation 201 6.5.1.1 Estimation of Doppler Centroid 201 6.5.1.2 Estimation of Doppler Ambiguity 203 6.5.1.3 Estimation of Doppler Rate 204 6.5.2 Motion Compensation 205 6.5.2.1 Motion Compensation Based on Sensors 206 6.5.2.2 Motion Compensation Based on Raw Data 207 6.5.2.3 Motion Compensation Based on Image Data 208 6.6 Typical Examples 209 6.6.1 High-Resolution Imaging 209 6.6.1.1 Ultra-wideband Synthesis in Range 209 6.6.1.2 High-Resolution Compression in Azimuth 211 6.6.1.3 Motion Error Estimation and Compensation 213 6.6.1.4 High-Resolution Imaging Process and Results 213 6.6.2 Ground Moving Target Indication 213 6.6.2.1 DPCA and ATI 215 6.6.2.2 CSI 216 6.6.2.3 Three Doppler Transform STAP 217 6.6.2.4 Comparison 221 6.6.2.5 Results of SAR/GMTI 222 6.6.3 Marine Moving Target Indication 224 6.6.3.1 Frequency-Agile Noncoherent Processing 225 6.6.3.2 Filter Bank Method for Fixed-Frequency-Coherent MTD 226 6.6.4 Airborne Moving Target Indication 228 6.6.4.1 Beam-Space STAP Before Doppler Filtering 230 6.6.4.2 Beam-Domain STAP After Doppler Filtering 231 6.7 SAR Signal Processor 235 6.7.1 System Architecture 236 6.7.2 Processing Architecture 237 6.7.3 Development Architecture 239 6.7.4 Processing Module 240 6.7.4.1 Signal Processing Module 240 6.7.4.2 Data Processing Module 241 6.7.4.3 Mission Management Module 242 6.7.5 Typical Signal Processor 242 References 246 7 Image Information Processing System 249 7.1 Overview 249 7.2 Target Detection 250 7.2.1 Highly Scattering Target Detection 250 7.2.2 Structure Target Detection 253 7.2.3 Target Parameter Extraction 255 7.2.4 Typical Examples 257 7.3 Target Change Detection 258 7.3.1 Preprocessing 260 7.3.2 Difference Image Acquisition 265 7.3.3 Difference Image Segmentation 266 7.3.4 Artificial Auxiliary Intelligence Analysis 267 7.3.5 Damage Assessment 267 7.3.6 Typical Examples 269 7.3.6.1 Detection of Mutual Change of Land and Water 269 7.3.6.2 Change Detection of Vegetation Growth 270 7.3.6.3 Change Detection of Urban Buildings 271 7.3.6.4 Airport Change Detection 273 7.4 Target Recognition 273 7.4.1 Template Matching Recognition 274 7.4.1.1 Target Segmentation Preprocessing 275 7.4.1.2 Peak Feature Extraction 278 7.4.1.3 Building Target Template Library 278 7.4.1.4 Estimation of Target Azimuth Angle 279 7.4.2 Statistical Pattern Recognition 280 7.4.2.1 Technical Process 281 7.4.2.2 PCA Feature Extraction 282 7.4.3 Typical Examples 284 7.5 Multisource SAR Image Fusion 284 7.5.1 Image Fusion Method 285 7.5.2 Fusion Effect Evaluation 286 7.5.3 Typical Examples 286 7.5.3.1 Target Detection of Multiband Vegetation Penetration 287 7.5.3.2 Target Detection of Multiband Grassland Background 287 7.5.3.3 Multiband Fusion Classification Analysis 289 7.5.3.4 Multiband Marine Target Detection 293 7.5.3.5 Multipolarization Building Detection 294 7.5.3.6 Multipolarization Ship Detection 294 7.6 Technology Outlook 295 7.6.1 Research on Algorithm Engineering Application 298 7.6.2 Research on Electromagnetic Simulation and Intelligent Target Recognition of the Target Image 298 7.6.3 Research on SAR Image Information Processing System 303 References 305 Index 307