Least variance estimation of motion error for synthetic aperture radar

Abstract

The main crux of motion error extraction lies on how to reduce the effects of terrain back scattering on the accuracy of extraction. A new solution which can significantly reduce these effects is presented in this paper. The phase term contained in SAR raw data consists of two parts: the phase caused by the vehicle's motion and the ground reflectivity function respectively. Since the former depends heavily on SAR geometry, the least variance estimation can be used to obtain, with high accuracy, the vehicle's motion error according to the pre-determined geometry relationship. Computer simulations show that this method is highly accurate and it decreases significantly the dependence of the accuracy on the terrain mapped.