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Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

Antenna footprint and resolution, range and cross-range ambiguities, SAR image distortions, SAR image SNR, noise equivalent reflectivity, rain clutter

Model antenna, environment, weather, platform and signal processing gains and losses for synthetic aperture radars. Estimate SAR link budget with the radar range equation. Evaluate scene geometry and hardware constraints on pulse repetition frequency, swath length, area coverage rate, and antenna aperture. Compare ideal and effective resolution of synthetic antenna. Model rain reflectivity for linearly and circularly polarized systems. Model ground reflectivity as a function of surface roughness, operating frequency, polarization and grazing angle.