Research on Azimuth DBF Method of HRWS SPC MAB SAR Imaging Mode with Non-Ideal Antenna Mode

Abstract

Single-phase center multiple azimuth beam (SPC MAB) mode is an effective method for high-resolution wide-swath (HRWS) SAR imaging. The traditional azimuth spectrum reconstruction method for SPC MAB mode is based on the combination scheme from which fake targets along the azimuth direction arise because the inter-beam interference is not considered. When the real antenna mode is inconsistent with the ideal one, the disadvantages of the combination scheme become more serious. In this paper, based on the basic theory of the low-pass, band-limited, multiple-channel under-sampling and reconstruction, a novel digital beam-forming method is proposed for the SPC MAB imaging mode with ideal antenna mode first. The method analyzes the system functions of the sub-beams, based on which digital beam-forming filters are designed for all the sub-beams. The designed filters can reconstruct the correct wide-bandwidth azimuth spectrum and suppress the inter-beam interference simultaneously. Furthermore, the proposed method is extended to SPC MAB mode with the non-ideal antenna mode. The simulation experiments prove the validities of the proposed method both for azimuth spectral reconstruction and the inter-beams interfering suppressing, no matter that the SPC MAB’s antenna mode is ideal or non-ideal.