Range-Dependent Map-Drift Algorithm for Focusing UAV SAR Imagery

• Published in: IEEE geoscience and remote sensing letters Vol. 13; no. 8; pp. 1158 - 1162
• Main Authors: Zhang, Lei, Hu, Mengqi, Wang, Guangyong, Wang, Hongxian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.08.2016; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Correlation; Deviation; Doppler effect; Estimation; Focusing; Map-drift algorithm (MDA); Motion compensation; motion compensation (MOCO); Radar imagery; range-dependent MDA (RDMDA); Robustness; Strategy; Synthetic aperture radar; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); Unmanned aerial vehicles
• ISSN: 1545-598X; 1558-0571
• DOI: 10.1109/LGRS.2016.2574752

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are usually sensitive to trajectory deviations that cause serious motion error in the recorded data. In this letter, a novel range-dependent map-drift algorithm (RDMDA) is developed to accommodate the range-variant characteristics of severe motion errors. Utilizing the algorithm as a core estimate, we come up with a robust motion compensation strategy for the UAV SAR imagery. RDMDA outperforms the conventional MDA in both accuracy and robustness while it keeps similar efficiency. Real data experiment shows that the proposed approach is appropriate for precise imaging of UAV SAR systems equipped with only a low-accuracy inertial navigation system.