Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) raw data simulators (RDSs) play a critical role in system design, mission planning, and algorithm evaluation, particularly for emerging imaging modes such as frequency-scanning (F-SCAN) SAR. However, existing simulators are often either computationally inefficient or unsuitable for this mode. To address these limitations, a dedicated RDS for F-SCAN SAR is first proposed, featuring detailed mathematical derivation, explicit modeling of antenna pattern effects, and a computational complexity analysis. Simulation experiments validate the proposed approach, demonstrating an efficiency improvement of 97.4% compared with the conventional time-domain method, while maintaining root-mean-square amplitude and phase errors on the order of 10-3. These results confirm that the proposed simulator is both efficient and accurate, providing a practical tool for F-SCAN SAR research.

Time synchronization and phase synchronization are indispensable for spaceborne bi-/multi-static SAR systems. The LuTan-1 (LT-1) bistatic SAR system employs a time synchronization scheme combining pulse-per-second (PPS) signals with GNSS-disciplined oscillators (GDOs), along with a novel non-interrupted alternate pulse (NIAP) scheme for phase synchronization. Furthermore, the time synchronization accuracy can be further enhanced by applying the two-way time transfer (TWTT) technique based on synchronization data from the NIAP scheme. To accurately evaluate the synchronization performance of the LT-1 system during in-orbit operation, an assessment method based on the two-dimensional (2D) positional offset of calibration targets is proposed. The method compares the theoretical offsets derived from imaging geometry with the measured offsets extracted from monostatic and bistatic SAR images to determine the system’s time and frequency deviations. Using 16 repeat-pass acquisitions over the calibration field in Hami, Xinjiang, during LT-1’s bistatic operation phase, the in-orbit synchronization performance of LT-1 is demonstrated. The PPS+GDO scheme achieves time synchronization accuracy under 100 ns, while the TWTT algorithm enhances this metric by three orders of magnitude, which is better than 0.10 ns. After NIAP phase synchronization, the LT-1 system exhibits a frequency deviation of approximately −2.17 × 10−3Hz, corresponding to frequency stability of 2 × 10−12.

Azimuth ambiguity in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images results from the limited azimuth sampling rate and seriously affects image quality and normal applications. Multiple algorithms for azimuth ambiguity elimination have been proposed. However, most algorithms adopt a single-channel model and ignore the effect of additional reconstruction operations on ambiguity in azimuth multichannel systems (MCSs). In this letter, the particularity of azimuth ambiguity for MCSs is analyzed theoretically. A refined ambiguity suppression scheme based on multichannel cancellation (MCC) and ambiguity refocusing is proposed. The ambiguity region is first located through the comparison of multi-look image pairs. Then the interference image for ambiguity extraction is cancellated through MCC. Consequently, the ambiguous image is refocused and extracted. Finally, the ambiguity is reversed to the echo domain to handle the special replicated ambiguity problem for MCSs. With the proposed scheme, ambiguity suppression performance has improved for MCSs. The validity of the proposed algorithm is further verified through LuTan-1 real data.

The echo separation issue of different transmit antennas is the most technical challenge in realizing multiple-input and multiple-output synthetic aperture radar (MIMO SAR) with same frequency band, especially for low-computing echo separation, making it extremely difficult towards the practical application for the spaceborne MIMO SAR. Based on the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) chirp waveforms, this letter proposes an innovative echo separation scheme with digital beamforming (DBF) and bandpass filtering (BPF) on board and bandpass-null steering on the ground for the spaceborne MIMO SAR. This scheme transfers the complex computing process on board to the ground, thus significantly reduce the computational load and relieve the resource occupation on board. Also, the perfect separation of interested echoes from interference can be achieved by this scheme. Finally, performance comparisons and simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The proposed scheme enables a high-efficiency and great-performance echo separation for the spaceborne MIMO SAR and makes the MIMO SAR a more promising technique for future SAR missions.

The azimuth multichannel synthetic aperture radar (SAR), as one of the mainstream technologies for achieving high-resolution and wide-swath (HRWS) imaging, has been successfully employed in several on-orbit SAR missions. However, the unavoidable phase errors among channels result in azimuth ambiguity, deteriorating the recognizability of targets in SAR images. Additionally, the radio frequency interference (RFI) exacerbates the difficulty of phase error estimation. To address this issue, a phase error calibration method based on least spectrum difference (LSD) is proposed. Firstly, the multichannel signals are reconstructed using the linear mapping form of the reconstruction algorithm. Secondly, the objective function is established based on the continuity of the azimuth spectrum, by which only the signals near the discontinuity points are proposed. Finally, the optimal estimation of the phase differences can be obtained after iteration. In LSD method, the RFI to the objective function is mitigated due to the operation in the range-Doppler domain, and the iteration is proposed only using a few data near the discontinuity points thus saving much computational cost. Experimental results based on the simulated data and real bistatic echoes of the LuTan-1 (LT-1) mission validate the superiority of the proposed LSD method.

With the growing scarcity of spectrum resources, frequency sharing among different systems is becoming quite common, which causes radio frequency interference (RFI) to normal SAR applications. Recently, in the RFI suppression field, algorithms based on the low-rank property (LRP) assumption have become a popular research topic. However, this assumption is not valid in complicated cases, especially when there is a wide variety of RFIs. To address this problem, in this paper, factors that affect the LRP are studied through theoretical analysis and simulation verification, a general RFI model is established to fit complicated cases, and an advanced RFI suppression scheme based on low-rank property restoration (LRPR) is proposed. The LRPR scheme has three steps. The first step is RFI localization, which captures the rough profile of the RFI in the time-frequency domain for RFI spectrum separation and extraction. The second step is RFI clustering, in which a novel similarity evaluation metric and corresponding two-step clustering algorithm are designed. The final step is RFI suppression. Operations for LRP recovery in each RFI group are proposed, consequently, classical low-rank approximation methods are applied for RFI suppression. The simulation results for various types of RFI show the robustness and performance improvement of the proposed scheme. In addition, in LuTan-1 data processing, the proposed scheme outperforms classical algorithms in both intensity image recovery and phase preservation.

Frequency scanning (F-SCAN) synthetic aperture radar (SAR), as an advantageous choice for SAR systems operating at higher carrier frequencies, can achieve high performance in terms of swath width, azimuth resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this article, a novel nonlinear F-SCAN (NF-SCAN) SAR imaging mode is proposed. Compared to the F-SCAN SAR, NF-SCAN SAR has two main advantages: one is to change the distribution of the transmit bandwidth over the swath by precisely tuning the beam scanning response to frequency. The other is to adapt the SNR distribution by adjusting the beam scanning response to time. First, this article derives the system parameters for NF-SCAN SAR. Second, methods for designing nonlinear beam scanning responses (NBSRs) to frequency and time (NBSR-F and NBSR-T) are proposed, by which a well-balanced ground range resolution and adaptive SNR are acquired. Third, a waveform design method dedicated to NF-SCAN SAR is given and the corresponding signal model is derived in detail. To reduce the data rate of NF-SCAN SAR with an incompletely compressed echo window, an improved data subsampling algorithm (IDSSA) is proposed, where a precise filter is designed, thus avoiding the loss of effective bandwidth. Finally, simulation experiments are conducted to verify the superiority of NF-SCAN SAR imaging mode. The proposed NF-SCAN SAR can be viewed as an important candidate for high-performance spaceborne SAR.

An advanced sparse multi-channel system is proposed for spaceborne digital beamforming synthetic aperture radar (DBF-SAR), which can suppress pulse extension loss (PEL) and frequency dispersion loss (FDL) without increasing the computational load and system complexity. First, conventional scan-on-receive (SCORE) technique is reviewed and a matching ratio (MR) is proposed to evaluate the mismatch between the formed beam pattern and the pulse signal amplitude. To mitigate the PEL and FDL, the novel sparse SCORE (S-SCORE) based on the optimization of the sparse channel distribution is proposed. The impact of sparse channel distribution is analyzed and the method to optimize the distribution based on the maximized MR is proposed accordingly. Finally, the results of simulations and experiments are provided to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed S-SCORE technique. The work in this paper can be seen as an important candidate for future spaceborne DBF-SAR.