SAR Regional All-Azimuth Observation Orbit Design for Target 3D Reconstruction

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) extends the conventional 2D images into 3D features by several acquisitions in different aspects. Compared with 3D techniques via multiple observations in elevation, e.g. SAR interferometry (InSAR) and SAR tomography (TomoSAR), holographic SAR can retrieve 3D structure by observations in azimuth. This paper focuses on designing a novel type of orbit to achieve SAR regional all-azimuth observation (AAO) for embedded targets detection and holographic 3D reconstruction. The ground tracks of the AAO orbit separate the earth surface into grids. Target in these grids can be accessed with an azimuth angle span of 360°, which is similar to the flight path of airborne circular SAR (CSAR). Inspired from the successive coverage orbits of optical sensors, several optimizations are made in the proposed method to ensure favorable grazing angles, the performance of 3D reconstruction, and long-term supervision for SAR sensors. Simulation experiments show the regional AAO can be completed within five hours. In addition, a second AAO of the same area can be duplicated in two days. Finally, an airborne SAR data process result is presented to illustrate the significance of AAO in 3D reconstruction.