The influence of target acceleration on velocity estimation in dual-channel SAR-GMTI

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 2006-01, Vol.44 (1), p.134-147
• Main Authors: Sharma, J.J., Gierull, C.H., Collins, M.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; Airborne radar; Applied geophysics; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Estimates; Exact sciences and technology; Grounds; interferometry; Internal geophysics; Matched filters; Mathematical analysis; Moving targets; parameter estimation; Phase estimation; Radar imaging; Radar remote sensing; Remote monitoring; Road transportation; Road vehicles; Roads; Spaceborne radar; Synthetic aperture radar; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); Vectors (mathematics); velocity measurement
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2005.859343

This paper investigates the effects of target acceleration on estimating the velocity vector of a ground moving target from single-pass dual-channel synthetic aperture radar data. Although vehicles traveling on roads and highways routinely experience acceleration, the majority of estimation algorithms assume a constant velocity scenario, which may result in erroneous estimates of target velocity. It is shown that under most conditions, acceleration has only minor effects on the estimation of across-track velocity using along-track interferometric phase. However, under the assumption of constant velocity, acceleration may significantly bias the estimate of along-track velocity. The influence of both along-track and across-track accelerations is examined through simulations of an airborne geometry and experimental data from Environment Canada's airborne CV 580 dual-channel synthetic aperture radar system.