Azimuth ambiguity suppression based on minimum mean square error estimation

Abstract

An innovative algorithm to suppress the strong azimuth ambiguity in single-look complex (SLC) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is presented. The basic idea is to construct a subspace with low ambiguous power and project the original image to the aforementioned subspace to suppress the azimuth ambiguity by the minimum mean square error estimation (MMSE). Compared with most traditional approaches, the proposed one is suitable for any distributed scene and any acquisition mode. Moreover, the proposed approach seems to keep the resolution in a reasonable level and not rely on the system parameters extremely. Raw data from the TerraSAR-X have been used to validate the effect of the azimuth ambiguity suppression by using the new approach.