Analysis of foliage-induced synthetic pattern distortions

Phase and amplitude fluctuations induced by wave propagation through foliage limit the ability of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system to image a target under foliage. One-way measurements of these fluctuations were done at C-, L-, UHF band during the July 1990 Foliage Penetration Experiment using single frequency CW signal sources and the NASA/JPL SAR receiver. The phase and amplitude data are coherently integrated to create the synthetic azimuthal patterns that would result when attempting to image a point target obscured by foliage. The effect of synthetic aperture length frequency, and polarization on the attenuation and azimuthal response of foliage obscured targets is investigated.