FOLIAGE PENETRATION EXPERIMENT .2. ANALYSIS OF FOLIAGE-INDUCED SYNTHETIC PATTERN DISTORTIONS

Phase and amplitude fluctuations induced by wave propagation through f oliage limit the ability of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system to image a target under foliage. One-way measurements of these fluctuati ons were done at C-, L-, UHF band during the July 1990 Foliage Penetra tion Experiment using single frequency CW signal sources and the NASA/ JPL SAR receiver. The phase and amplitude data are coherently integrat ed to create the synthetic azimuthal patterns that would result when a ttempting to image a point target obscured by foliage. The effect of s ynthetic aperture length, frequency, and polarization on the attenuati on and azimuthal response of foliage obscured targets is investigated.