Introducing F-Scan to the Concurrent Imaging Mode

The concurrent imaging mode is a recently proposed technique to increase the imaging capability and flexibility of SAR systems. It allows for simultaneous acquisitions of two areas by increasing the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and interleaving the transmission and the reception of two modes in a pulse-to-pulse manner. Due to intrinsic system limitations, this technique applied to current operational systems, such as the German SAR satellite TerraSAR-X, comes along with strong trade-offs in terms of limited swath width and increased ambiguity levels. For future X-band missions, the frequency scanning (F-Scan) technique is one of the most promising methods to improve these performance parameters. Therefore, this paper derives timing and interference analyses for the integration of F-Scan with the concurrent imaging concept. Additionally, it will be shown that F-Scan can improve the main critical performance parameters of the concurrent mode.