Comparison of algorithms for use in real-time spotlight-mode SAR image formation

Charles V. Jakowatz Jr.; Daniel E. Wahl; David A. Yocky; Brian K. Bray; Wallace J. Bow Jr.; John A. Richards

doi:10.1117/12.548203

2 September 2004 Comparison of algorithms for use in real-time spotlight-mode SAR image formation

Charles V. Jakowatz Jr., Daniel E. Wahl, David A. Yocky, Brian K. Bray, Wallace J. Bow Jr., John A. Richards

Proceedings Volume 5427, Algorithms for Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery XI; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.548203
Event: Defense and Security, 2004, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

This paper compares three algorithms for potential use in a real-time, on-board implementation of spotlight-mode SAR image formation. These include: the polar formatting algorithm (PFA), the range migration algorithm (RMA), and the overlapped subapertures algorithm (OSA). We conclude that for any reasonable spotlight-mode imaging scenario, PFA is easily the algorithm of choice because its computational efficiency is significantly higher than that of either RMA or OSA. This comparison specifically includes cases in which wavefront curvature is sufficient to cause image defocus in conventional PFA, because a post-processing refocus step can be performed with PFA to yield excellent image quality for only a minimal increase in computation time. We demonstrate that real-time image formation for many imaging scenarios is achievable using PFA implemented on a single Pentium M processor. OSA is quite slow compared to PFA, especially for the case of moderate to high resolution (9 inches and better). RMA is not competitive with PFA for situations that do not require wavefront curvature correction. For those cases in which PFA requires post-processing to correct for wavefront curvature, RMA comes closer in efficiency to PFA, but is still outperformed by the modified PFA.

Citation Download Citation

Charles V. Jakowatz Jr., Daniel E. Wahl, David A. Yocky, Brian K. Bray, Wallace J. Bow Jr., and John A. Richards "Comparison of algorithms for use in real-time spotlight-mode SAR image formation", Proc. SPIE 5427, Algorithms for Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery XI, (2 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.548203

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