Spatially Variant Sidelobe Suppression for Linear Array MIMO SAR 3-D Imaging

Linear array (LA) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has the capacity of achieving 3-D images in a single pass. If processed by matched filtering-based linear 3-D imaging, sidelobe suppression is often required for image quality enhancement. However, in the case of imaging a large target in a short range, sidelobes of the target will become spatially variant and curved, and traditional sidelobe suppression methods will fail. This article proposes a new spatially variant curved sidelobe suppression method for LA MIMO SAR short-range 3-D imaging. The key technique is the employment of a new pseudopolar coordinate system where both the spatial variance and the curvature of 3-D sidelobes can be removed. Specifically, a new 3-D spatially variant apodization (SVA) kernel is applied for sidelobe suppression to maintain the resolution performance. The validity of the presented approach has been demonstrated via computer simulations, the tower crane experiment, and the unmanned ground vehicle experiment.