Motion error determination from the signum-coded SAR raw data

The authors explore the determination of motion errors of an aircraft platform from the signum-coded synthetic-aperture-radar raw signal (SC-SAR data). The SC-SAR has a one-bit representation. In fact it only provides information about the sign of SAR recorded data. Displacement from the line-of-sight (LOS) direction and nominal forward velocity of SAR platform are estimated from this signal by using the reflectivity displacement method (RDM), which allows motion error determination directly from SAR raw data. The theory of the motion error estimation from the signum-coded raw data is presented and supported by experimental results. Comparison is made between the motion parameters computed by the original and the SC-data in order to show that the motion errors can be also determined by applying the RDM to the SC-signal