SAR image reconstruction for an arbitrary radar path

Considers the problem of spotlight-mode synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging for an arbitrary radar path. A general imaging scenario involves a 3-D scattering surface with data collected along an arbitrary 3-D radar path. This approach is useful, for example, in military applications where the radar platform may undergo some maneuvers, and in radar astronomy where the relative motion is, at least in part, determined by the natural paths of celestial bodies. The authors show that nonideal platform motion can create phase variations in the data which lead to spatially-varying shifts and blurring. A correction procedure is proposed and demonstrated