3-D Motion Parameter Estimation via Multi-static SAR

Although vehicles traveling on the sea or roads routinely experience acceleration, the parameter estimation algorithms in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging assume that the target velocity stays the same, which will lead to erroneous estimates of the motion parameters. In this letter, the estimation of the velocity and acceleration of the moving targets in SAR imaging are investigated at the same time. First, a three-order range equation with the velocity and acceleration components of the target is established. Then an algorithm based on cubic phase function (CPF) is presented to estimate the so called Doppler phase coefficient (DPC) of the multi-static SAR azimuth signals, and the velocity and acceleration of the moving targets can be estimated on the basis of the relationship between the DPC and motion parameters ultimately. Numerical results show that the method is effective.