Effect of linear array elements spacing on angle imaging performance of downward-looking 3D-SAR

This paper presented the 3D-SAR with linear array antennas (LAA) which could, in contrast to conventional single-channel 2D-SAR, create the real 3D resolution cells to avoid geometric distortions. Except for conventional side-looking mode, 3D-SAR with LAA can be operated in downward-looking mode which can avoid shadowing effects. The relation between the LAA elements spacing and the elevation angular ambiguity is derived, and the maximal distance between individual antenna elements allowed to avoid elevation angular ambiguity is deduced in this paper. The demonstration of the feasibility of the 3D-SAR with LAA and the relation between elements spacing and elevation angular ambiguity are analyzed by simulation in the last part of this paper.