Geolocation Error Transfer Model and Trajectory Calibration Method for Airborne SAR Considering Motion Compensation Residual Error

Abstract

Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) location error is affected by the position/speed measurement error of the aircraft, system time error, etc., and also related to the residual error of motion compensation. However, the existing airborne SAR location model rarely considers the effect of residual motion error. Considering that motion and trajectory measurement errors are common in practice, this paper derives a location error transfer model of an airborne SAR image based on the motion compensation and frequency-domain imaging algorithms. The proposed model clarifies the influence of trajectory measurement error on location deviation when residual motion error exists and provides a method of error calibration measurement. The simulation experiments validate the correctness of the proposed location error transfer model. The present method obtains a more accurate error calibration measurement result than the location error model that does not consider the residual motion error, proving the superiority of the proposed model.