Multiple-input multiple-output synthetic aperture radar antenna arrangement for wide-swath remote sensing

Abstract. Simultaneous high-resolution and wide-swath (HRWS) remote sensing imaging is of great importance in future microwave remote sensing, but it is limited by the minimum antenna area constraint. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) offers new opportunities due to its increased degrees of freedom and system flexibility. We investigate four elevation MIMO SAR antenna arrangements, namely narrow-beam transmission narrow-beam reception, narrow-beam transmission wide-beam reception, wide-beam transmission narrow-beam reception, and wide-beam transmission wide-beam reception (WTWR) in HRWS remote sensing. Their signal models, system gains and range ambiguity-to-signal ratio performances are comparatively investigated. Three waveforms that have a large time-bandwidth product and constant modulus are designed for the MIMO SAR system and the impacts of their mutual interferences due to imperfect waveform orthogonality are also simulated. Simulation results show that MIMO SAR is superior to conventional single-antenna SAR and existing multichannel SAR techniques in wide-swath remote sensing.

[1]  John C. Curlander,et al.  Synthetic Aperture Radar: Systems and Signal Processing , 1991 .

[2]  P. Mancini,et al.  Ambiguity Suppression In Sars Using Adaptive Array Techniques , 1991, [Proceedings] IGARSS'91 Remote Sensing: Global Monitoring for Earth Management.

[3]  M. A. Brown,et al.  Wide-swath SAR , 1992 .

[4]  John C. Curlander,et al.  Application of the multiple PRF technique to resolve Doppler centroid estimation ambiguity for spaceborne SAR , 1992, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[5]  I. D. Longstaff,et al.  Wide-swath space-borne SAR and range ambiguity , 1997 .

[6]  Michael A. Temple,et al.  Nonlinear suppression of range ambiguities in pulse-diverse radar , 2001 .

[7]  J. Mittermayer,et al.  Analysis of range ambiguity suppression in SAR by up and down chirp modulation for point and distributed targets , 2003, IGARSS 2003. 2003 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37477).

[8]  Jørgen Dall,et al.  Azimuth phase coding for range ambiguity suppression in SAR , 2004, IGARSS 2004. 2004 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[9]  Zheng Bao,et al.  Generation of wide-swath and high-resolution SAR images from multichannel small spaceborne SAR systems , 2005, IEEE Geosci. Remote. Sens. Lett..

[10]  Wan Joo Kim,et al.  An Efficient Method of Eliminating the Range Ambiguity for a Low-Cost FMCW Radar Using VCO Tuning Characteristics , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[11]  Minhui Zhu,et al.  The angle error estimate method in the wide swath SAR basing on multi-receiver , 2006 .

[12]  P. P. Vaidyanathan,et al.  MIMO Radar Ambiguity Properties and Optimization Using Frequency-Hopping Waveforms , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[13]  Werner Wiesbeck,et al.  Investigation of a New Multifunctional High Performance SAR System Concept Exploiting MIMO Technology , 2008, IGARSS 2008 - 2008 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[14]  Jens Klare.  Digital Beamforming for a 3D MIMO SAR - Improvements through Frequency and Waveform Diversity , 2008, IGARSS 2008 - 2008 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[15]  N. Levanon,et al.  Mitigating Range Ambiguity in High PRF Radar using Inter-Pulse Binary Coding , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[16]  Nicolas Gebert,et al.  Multi-Channel Azimuth Processing for High-Resolution Wide-Swath SAR Imaging , 2009 .

[17]  Wei Xu,et al.  Multichannel SAR With Reflector Antenna for High-Resolution Wide-Swath Imaging , 2010, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[18]  S. Bertl,et al.  Comparison and tests of different virtual arrays for MIMO radar applications , 2011, 2011 12th International Radar Symposium (IRS).

[19]  Chen Zhuming,et al.  Multidimensional waveform design for multi-mode and synthetic bandwidth SAR imaging , 2011, Proceedings of 2011 IEEE CIE International Conference on Radar.

[20]  Alexander G. Yarovoy,et al.  A Sparse Aperture MIMO-SAR-Based UWB Imaging System for Concealed Weapon Detection , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[21]  Jung Hyo Kim,et al.  Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for Multimodal Operation , 2011 .

[22]  Pierfrancesco Lombardo,et al.  Exploiting MIMO SAR Potentialities With Efficient Cross-Track Constellation Configurations for Improved Range Resolution , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[23]  Wen-Qin Wang.  Space–Time Coding MIMO-OFDM SAR for High-Resolution Imaging , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[24]  Gerhard Krieger,et al.  Airborne Demonstration of Multichannel SAR Imaging , 2011, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[25]  R. Keith Raney,et al.  Improved Range Ambiguity Performance in Quad-Pol SAR , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[26]  Xiang Li,et al.  Manifold Sensitivity Analysis for MIMO Radar , 2012, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[27]  M. C. Wicks,et al.  Range-Doppler-angle ambiguity function analysis in modern radar , 2012, Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation.

[28]  Wei Xu,et al.  Multichannel synthetic aperture radar systems with a planar antenna for future spaceborne microwave remote sensing , 2012, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine.

[29]  Wen-Qin Wang,et al.  MIMO SAR using Chirp Diverse Waveform for Wide-Swath Remote Sensing , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[30]  Wei Xu,et al.  Echo Separation in Multidimensional Waveform Encoding SAR Remote Sensing Using an Advanced Null-Steering Beamformer , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[31]  Gerhard Krieger,et al.  Ambiguity Suppression by Azimuth Phase Coding in Multichannel SAR Systems , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[32]  Wen-Qin Wang,et al.  Near-Space Vehicle-Borne SAR With Reflector Antenna for High-Resolution and Wide-Swath Remote Sensing , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[33]  Wen-Qin Wang,et al.  Multi-Antenna Synthetic Aperture Radar , 2013 .

[34]  Mengdao Xing,et al.  Multichannel full-aperture azimuth processing for beam steering SAR , 2013, Conference Proceedings of 2013 Asia-Pacific Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (APSAR).

[35]  Dario Tarchi,et al.  MIMO Radar and Ground-Based SAR Imaging Systems: Equivalent Approaches for Remote Sensing , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[36]  Zheng Bao,et al.  Performance Analysis for Multichannel HRWS SAR Systems Based on STAP Approach , 2013, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[37]  Wen-Qin Wang,et al.  Large-Area Remote Sensing in High-Altitude High-Speed Platform Using MIMO SAR , 2013, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

[38]  Wen-Qin Wang,et al.  Mitigating Range Ambiguities in High-PRF SAR With OFDM Waveform Diversity , 2013, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[39]  刘亚东,et al.  Investigation of Multichannel Sliding Spotlight SAR for Ultrahigh-Resolution and Wide-Swath Imaging , 2013 .

[40]  Athanassios Manikas,et al.  Superresolution Multitarget Parameter Estimation in MIMO Radar , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[41]  Xiaofei Zhang,et al.  A Joint Scheme for Angle and Array Gain-Phase Error Estimation in Bistatic MIMO Radar , 2013, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[42]  Mengdao Xing,et al.  Multichannel HRWS SAR Imaging Based on Range-Variant Channel Calibration and Multi-Doppler-Direction Restriction Ambiguity Suppression , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[43]  Ishuwa C. Sikaneta,et al.  MIMO SAR Processing for Multichannel High-Resolution Wide-Swath Radars , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[44]  Gerhard Krieger,et al.  MIMO-SAR: Opportunities and Pitfalls , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[45]  Gerhard Krieger,et al.  MIMO SAR Operation Modes and Techniques , 2014 .

[46]  Jie Wang,et al.  A Novel Scheme for Ambiguous Energy Suppression in MIMO-SAR Systems , 2015, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[47]  Feng He,et al.  A Novel Space–Time Coding Alamouti Waveform Scheme for MIMO-SAR Implementation , 2015, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.