Detection of moving objects with airborne SAR

Abstract The joint problem of detecting and focusing point-like moving targets with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is addressed. The concept of a moving target detector, widely practised in ground-based radar systems, is suggested for SAR systems. Both analytical and simulation approaches have been carried out to assess detection performance. Two novel algorithms have been conceived for an accurate estimation of the Doppler parameters, useful for both target focusing and evaluation of the velocity components. An implementation of the algorithm on a transputer network, suited for real-time processing, is also presented.