3-D radar imaging using range migration techniques

An imaging system with three-dimensional (3-D) capability can be implemente d by using a stepped frequency radar which synthesizes a two-dimensional (2 -D) planar aperture. A 3-D image can be formed by coherently integrating th e backscatter data over the measured frequency band and the two spatial coo rdinates of the 2-D synthetic aperture. This paper presents a near-held 3-D synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging algorithm. This algorithm is an ext ension of the 2-D range migration algorithm (RMA), The presented formulatio n is justified by using the method of the stationary phase (MSP), Implement ation aspects including the sampling criteria, resolutions, and computation al complexity are assessed, The high computational efficiency and accurate image reconstruction of the algorithm are demonstrated both with numerical simulations and measurements using an outdoor linear SAR system.