Image retrieval algorithm of two-dimensional synthetic aperture radiometer

Synthetic aperture radiometer is a new instrumental technology for passive microwave remote sensing. It has the advantage that the antenna aperture needed for a two-dimensional image is very much thinned such that its weight and volume are all reduced for easy folding and deploying during launch and in space. Different image retrieval algorithms have been developed together with different sensors. In this paper, a general image retrieval algorithm is presented. It is not limited for an equal spaced visibility function sampling and Fourier transformation. The baselines may be placed in three dimensions and arbitrarily orientated. This algorithm is useful for testing a new configuration of base line design. A design case is presented in the paper, which employs base lines in both x, y and z dimensions of the satellite platform and combined with mechanical scan. The distributions of the sampling points of the visibility function are given in the u, v plane. It is shown that although the distribution is not uniform, the retrieval algorithm works well. Retrieved results of simulated original images using the algorithm are presented