Phase analysis for the limitations of the tomographic paradigm on a 3D scene

The tomographic paradigm argues that the demodulated pulses from a spotlight mode SAR system trace a 2D slice of the 3D Fourier transform of the complex surface reflectivity. This paper derives the phase errors that result from imaging a 3D surface from a non planar collection geometry and shows how correct projection to the true surface can eliminate many of the errors. The response from an ideal scatterer is derived and then approximated to simplify the expression into a manageable and meaningful form and so that insight can be gained into the artifacts produced. The theory indicates that warping an image by distorting the final image to correct for layover doesn't eliminate the second order blurring terms produced by the relief and that both the layover and these blurring affects can be properly eliminated through correct projection to the real ground plane.