Extended Nonlinear Chirp Scaling Algorithm for High-Resolution Highly Squint SAR Data Focusing

In this paper, an extended nonlinear chirp scaling (ENLCS) algorithm for focusing synthetic aperture radar data acquired at high resolution and highly squint angle is proposed. The whole processing of the ENLCS consists of the following three steps. First, a linear range walk correction is used to remove the linear component of target range cell migration (RCM) and to mitigate the range-azimuth coupling of the 2-D spectrum. Second, a bulk second range compression (SRC) is performed in the 2-D frequency domain for compensating the residual RCM, SRC term, and higher order range-azimuth coupling terms. Third, a modified azimuth NLCS (ANLCS) operation is applied to equalize the azimuth frequency modulation rate for azimuth compression. By adopting higher order approximation processing and by properly selecting the scaling coefficients, the proposed modified ANLCS operation has better accuracy and little image misregistration. The overall focusing procedure of the ENLCS algorithm only involves fast Fourier transform and complex multiplication, which means easier implementation and higher efficiency. The experimental results with simulated data prove the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.