Paper
16 May 2005 Possible effects of clear-air refractive-index perturbations on SAR images
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems have reached a degree of accuracy and sophistication that requires the validity of the free-space approximation for radio-wave propagation to be questioned. Based on the thin-lens approximation, a closed-form model for the focal length of a gravity wave-modulated refractive-index interface in the lower troposphere is developed. The model corroborates the suggestion that mesoscale, quasi-deterministic variations of the clear-air radio refractive-index field can cause diffraction patterns on the ground that are consistent with reflectivity artifacts occasionally seen in SAR images, particularly in those collected at long ranges, short wavelengths, and small grazing angles.
© (2005) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Andreas Muschinski, Fred M. Dickey, and Armin W. Doerry "Possible effects of clear-air refractive-index perturbations on SAR images", Proc. SPIE 5788, Radar Sensor Technology IX, (16 May 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.605651
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CITATIONS
Cited by 5 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Synthetic aperture radar

Interfaces

Humidity

Turbulence

Atmospheric optics

Antennas

Radar

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