The Rapid Terrain Visualization Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (RTV-ACTD) is designed to "demonstrate the technologies and infrastructure to meet the Army requirement for rapid generation of digital topographic data to support emerging crisis or contingencies". The primary sensor for this mission is an interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) designed at Sandia National Laboratories. This paper will outline the design of the system and its performance, and show some flight test results. The RTV IFSAR will meet DTED level III and IV specifications by using a multiple-baseline design and high-accuracy differential and carrier-phase GPS navigation. It includes innovative near-real-time DEM production on-board the aircraft. The system is being flown on a deHavilland DHC-7 Army aircraft.

The detection and refocus of moving targets in SAR imagery is of interest in a number of applications. In this paper we address the problem of refocussing a blurred signature that has by some means been identified as a moving target. We assume that the target vehicle velocity is constant, i.e., the motion is in a straight line with constant speed. The refocus is accomplished by application of a 2D phase function to the phase history data obtained via Fourier transformation of an image chip that contains the blurred moving target data. By considering separately the phase effects of the range and cross-range components of the target velocity vector, we show how the appropriate phase correction term can be derived as a two-parameter function. We then show a procedure for estimating the two parameters, so that the blurred signature can be automatically refocused. The algorithm utilizes optimization of an image domain contrast metric. We present results of refocusing moving targets in real SAR imagery by this method.

The phase gradient autofocus (PGA) technique for phase error correction of spotlight mode synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is examined carefully in the context of four fundamental signal processing steps that constitute the algorithm. We demonstrate that excellent results over a wide variety of scene content, and phase error function structure are obtained if and only if all of these steps are included in the processing. Finally, we show that the computational demands of the fun PGA algorithm do not represent a large fraction of the total image formation problem, when mid to large size images are involved.< >

The subject of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) for high-accuracy terrain elevation mapping continues to gain importance in the arena of radar signal processing. Applications to problems in precision terrain-aided guidance and automatic target recognition, as well as a variety of civil applications, are being studied by a number of researchers. Not unlike many other areas of SAR processing, the subject of IFSAR can, at first glance, appear to be somewhat mysterious. In this paper we show how the mathematics of IFSAR for terrain elevation mapping using a pair of spotlight mode SAR collections can be derived in a very straightforward manner. Here, we employ an approach that relies entirely on Fourier transforms, and utilizes no reference to range equations or Doppler concepts. The result is a simplified explanation of the fundamentals of interferometry, including an easily-seen link between image domain phase difference and terrain elevation height. The derivation builds upon previous work by the authors in which a framework for spotlight mode SAR image formation based on an analogy to 3D computerized axial tomography (CAT) was developed. After outlining the major steps in the mathematics, we show how a computer simulator which utilizes 3D Fourier transforms can be constructed that demonstrates all of the major aspects of IFSAR from spotlight mode collections.

Two methods of focusing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are compared. Both a conventional subaperture cross-correlation method and a new phase gradient autofocus (PGA) algorithm developed at Sandia National Laboratories are shown to perform well if high-order phase errors are not present. With the introduction of significant high-order phase errors [e.g., due to uncompensated platform motion], both algorithms suffer a loss in performance. However, relative performance degradation is less for PGA than for the subaperture focusing technique. An explanation is presented for the observed behavior of the two autofocus techniques.

Uncompensated phase errors present in synthetic-aperture-radar data can have a disastrous effect on reconstructed image quality. We present a new iterative algorithm that holds promise of being a robust estimator and corrector for arbitrary phase errors. Our algorithm is similar in many respects to speckle processing methods currently used in optical astronomy. We demonstrate its ability to focus scenes containing large amounts of phase error regardless of the phase-error structure or its source. The algorithm works extremely well in both high and low signal-to-clutter conditions without human intervention.

The phase-gradient algorithm represents a powerful new signal-processing technique with applications to aperture-synthesis imaging. These include, for example, synthetic-aperture-radar phase correction and stellar-image reconstruction. The algorithm combines redundant information present in the data to arrive at an estimate of the phase derivative. We show that the estimator is in fact a linear, minimum-variance estimator of the phase derivative.

In this paper the design and development of a small-aperture imaging system used for surveillance of vehicular traffic at night is discussed. Such a sensor may have applicability to the safeguarding of a secure facility, where it is important to monitor vehicle activity near the facility perimeter. The sensing element is a linear pyroelectric focal plane array. Motion of a target vehicle provides for scanning in the horizontal direction, and negates the need for a chopper to produce a differential IR signal. Also presented are various digital image processing procedures that are employed to enhance the collected image data, since the images produced by such an array are qualitatively quite different than those obtained in the visible portion of the spectrum. The array consists of 32 lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) elements spaced on 15 mil centers on a single crystal, with element dimensions of 13 by 32 mils. Thirty-two individual on-chip hybrid detector pre-amplifiers reduce the large switching noise that would accompany post-multiplexer amplification. Processed images collected with this prototype system are shown.

The need arises in certain vehicular surveillance applications for an electronic imager that can perform without human interaction and can transmit definitive images over very low bandwidth channels. The investigators have found that line scan imagers offer particular advantages toward these ends. Specifically, the use of a line scan imager facilitates the following processing steps: 1) Segmentation of the vehicle from the background, 2) Auto-matic exposure control, 3) Light level equalization prior to quantization, and 4) Implementation of an adaptive sampling scheme. These processing steps together with the source encoder may be implemented on a relatively low throughput processor and achieve near real time operation. The specific encoding method used here is an extended differential pulse code modulation (DPCM). A prototype system has been developed, producing medium resolution images at less than 10K bits per frame.