Effect of Instrument Frequency Uncertainty on Wideband Microwave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Images

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effect of frequency uncertainty in the signals generated or measured by a microwave instrument on the resulting synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images for nondestructive testing (NDT) applications. Wideband SAR imaging systems measure reflections from a target by irradiating it with locally generated signals that can potentially have some level of frequency uncertainty. Quantifying this frequency uncertainty provides the user with a realistic and expected level of image distortion which may manifest itself as blurring, background noise, etc. In this study, we show that as uncertainty in the actual frequency value increases, the level of image distortions increases predominantly for distant targets. The experiments showed that a combinations of low frequency uncertainty bandwidth and near target ranges (distances) produced non-discernible image distortions. This is an important fact for nondestructive testing (NDT) applications since the object to be measured is commonly close to the imaging instrument.

Meeting Name

IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (2017: May 22-25, Politecnico di TorinoTorino, Italy)

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Frequency Uncertainty; Image Distortion; Instrumentation Error; Measurement Error; SAR Imaging; Bandwidth; Instrument Testing; Nondestructive Examination; Radar Measurement; Synthetic Aperture Radar; Uncertainty Analysis; Imaging Instruments; Microwave Instruments; Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Images; Wideband Microwaves

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-1509035960

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2017 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 2017

Link to Full Text

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