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Remote Sensing
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Processing Methods and Techniques of Spaceborne SAR with Ultra-High Resolution
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Processing Methods and Techniques of Spaceborne SAR with Ultra-High Resolution

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Engineering Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2025 | Viewed by 1984

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Guangcai Sun

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
Interests: synthetic apeture radar (SAR) imaging; real-time radar imaging processor; SAR image processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wenkang Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Academy of Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Xidian University, Xi’an, 710071, China
Interests: spaceborne SAR processing techniques; design novel spaceborne radar systems; interdisciplinary remote sensing
Prof. Dr. Vito Pascazio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope”, 80143 Napoli, Italy
Interests: synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image processing; SAR interferometry; SAR tomography; GB-SAR; ground penetrating radars; through-the-wall imaging, and deep learning techniques to radar and remote sensing imaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, advanced spaceborne SAR missions have exploited the limits of their capabilities in achieving higher resolution. However, the lengthened synthetic aperture time generally exaggerates the orbit curvature and introduces strong spatial variance into the signals, which significantly increases the complexity of the processing techniques. In particular, the focusing quality of spaceborne ultra-high-resolution (UHR) SAR is severely dependent on the topography. Therefore, the requirements on the DEM quality to assist the accommodation as well as specifically designed accommodation methods need to be addressed to assure well focusing. Ultra-high resolution also poses a challenge to interferometric applications due to the difficulties associated with co-registration, caused by its sensitivity to fluctuating terrains. Moreover, spaceborne UHR SAR faces a large processing burden due to the significant size of the raw data. However, increasing the synthetic aperture time may also lead to the development of some novel application techniques, such as stereo SAR imaging in a single pass, multi-view-angle image fusion, 3D deformation monitoring, and atmosphere measuring.

This Special Issue will present papers that address the topic of “Processing Methods and Techniques of Spaceborne SAR with Ultra-High Resolution” and the use of innovative focusing algorithms, processing frameworks, specified cluster systems with a high focusing quality and high efficiency, and innovative applications and processing techniques in interferometry, stereo SAR imaging, multi-view-angle image fusion, and 3D deformation monitoring.

Suggested themes and article types for submissions:

  • UHR spaceborne SAR mission.
  • Challenges and potentials of spaceborne UHR SAR.
  • Innovative focusing algorithms, processing framework for spaceborne UHR SAR.
  • Processing techniques of stereo SAR imaging with spaceborne UHR SAR.
  • Processing techniques of multi-view-angle image fusion with spaceborne UHR SAR.
  • Processing techniques of 3D deformation monitoring with spaceborne UHR SAR.
  • Other remote sensing applications with spaceborne UHR SAR, such as in atmosphere and ocean observation and etc.

Prof. Dr. Guangcai Sun
Dr. Wenkang Liu
Prof. Dr. Vito Pascazio
Guest Editors

Quan Chen
Guest Editor Assistant
Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering, Shanghai 201109, China
Email:

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • spaceborne SAR
  • ultra-high-resolution (UHR)
  • focusing algorithm
  • interferometry
  • stereo SAR imaging
  • multi-view-angle image fusion
  • 3D deformation monitoring

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

37 pages, 94699 KiB  
Article
Two-Dimensional Spatial Variation Analysis and Correction Method for High-Resolution Wide-Swath Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Imaging
by Zhenyu Hou, Pin Li, Zehua Zhang, Zhuo Yun, Feng He and Zhen Dong
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(7), 1262; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17071262 - 2 Apr 2025
Viewed by 224
Abstract
With the development and application of spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), higher resolution and a wider swath have become significant demands. However, as the resolution increases and the swath widens, the two-dimensional (2D) spatial variation between different targets in the scene and the [...] Read more.
With the development and application of spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), higher resolution and a wider swath have become significant demands. However, as the resolution increases and the swath widens, the two-dimensional (2D) spatial variation between different targets in the scene and the radar becomes very pronounced, severely affecting the high-precision focusing and high-quality imaging of spaceborne SAR. In previous studies on the correction of two-dimensional spatial variation in spaceborne SAR, either the models were not accurate enough or the computational efficiency was low, limiting the application of corresponding algorithms. In this paper, we first establish a slant range model and a signal model based on the zero-Doppler moment according to the spaceborne SAR geometry, thereby significantly reducing the impact of azimuth spatial variation in two-dimensional spatial variation. Subsequently, we propose a Curve-Sphere Model (CUSM) to describe the ground observation geometry of spaceborne SAR, and based on this, we establish a more accurate theoretical model and quantitative description of two-dimensional spatial variation. Next, through modeling and simulation, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the impact of two-dimensional spatial variation on spaceborne SAR imaging, obtaining corresponding constraints and thresholds and concluding that in most cases, only one type of azimuth spatial variation needs to be considered, thereby greatly reducing the demand and difficulty of two-dimensional spatial variation correction. Relying on these, we propose a two-dimensional spatial variation correction method that combines range blocking and azimuth nonlinear chirp scaling processing and analyze its scalability to be applicable to more general cases. Finally, the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method are validated through both simulation experiments and real data experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing Methods and Techniques of Spaceborne SAR with Ultra-High Resolution)
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24 pages, 7521 KiB  
Article
High-Resolution High-Squint Large-Scene Spaceborne Sliding Spotlight SAR Processing via Joint 2D Time and Frequency Domain Resampling
by Mingshan Ren, Heng Zhang and Weidong Yu
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(1), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17010163 - 6 Jan 2025
Viewed by 740
Abstract
A frequency domain imaging algorithm, featured as joint two-dimensional (2D) time and frequency domain resampling, used for high-resolution high-squint large-scene (HHL) spaceborne sliding spotlight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing is proposed in this paper. Due to the nonlinear beam rotation during HHL data [...] Read more.
A frequency domain imaging algorithm, featured as joint two-dimensional (2D) time and frequency domain resampling, used for high-resolution high-squint large-scene (HHL) spaceborne sliding spotlight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing is proposed in this paper. Due to the nonlinear beam rotation during HHL data acquisition, the Doppler centroid varies nonlinearly with azimuth time and traditional sub-aperture approaches and two step approach fail to remove the inertial Doppler aliasing of spaceborne sliding spotlight SAR data. In addition, curved orbit effect and long synthetic aperture time make the range histories difficult to model and introduce space-variants in both range and azimuth. In this paper, we use the azimuth deramping and 2D time-domain azimuth resampling, collectively referred to as preprocessing, to eliminate the aliasing in Doppler domain and correct the range-dependent azimuth-variants of range histories. After preprocessing, the squint sliding spotlight SAR data could be considered as equivalent broadside strip-map SAR during processing. Frequency domain focusing, mainly involves phase multiplication and resampling in 2D frequency and RD domain, is then applied to compensate for the residual space-variants and achieve the focusing of SAR data. Moreover, in order to adapt higher resolution and larger scene cases, the combination of the proposed algorithm and partitioning strategy is also discussed in this paper. Processing results of simulation data and Gaofen-3 experimental data are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing Methods and Techniques of Spaceborne SAR with Ultra-High Resolution)
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28 pages, 47685 KiB  
Article
Range-Dependent Variance Correction Method for High-Resolution and Wide-Swath Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Based on Block Processing in Range Dimension
by Zhenyu Hou, Zehua Zhang, Pin Li, Zhuo Yun, Feng He and Zhen Dong
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(1), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17010050 - 27 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 578
Abstract
With increasing demands for SAR image applications, spaceborne SAR systems are evolving towards higher resolution and wider swath capabilities. However, these advancements lead to more pronounced range-dependent variance effects. Previous research has primarily focused on the impact of range-dependent variance on range cell [...] Read more.
With increasing demands for SAR image applications, spaceborne SAR systems are evolving towards higher resolution and wider swath capabilities. However, these advancements lead to more pronounced range-dependent variance effects. Previous research has primarily focused on the impact of range-dependent variance on range cell migration and the quadratic phase of range frequency, while often neglecting the effects of the cubic phase of range frequency. Although some block processing methods have addressed the range-dependent variant cubic phase of range frequency, they lack detailed impact analyses and segmentation criteria. This paper first proposes a Circle–Sphere geometric model to establish a theoretical framework for analyzing range-dependent variance impacts. Through simulation experiments, we validate the theoretical model’s accuracy and develop a numerical analysis of range-dependent variance effects. Building upon this foundation, we introduce a range-dependent variance correction method based on block processing in the range dimension. This method, incorporating valid data area and buffered data area, effectively corrects range-dependent variance while preventing data wrapping and fragmentation. Moreover, our theoretical model for analyzing range-dependent variance impacts provides both theoretical and numerical foundations for block segmentation criteria. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method are validated through both simulation experiments and real data experiments using GF3. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing Methods and Techniques of Spaceborne SAR with Ultra-High Resolution)
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