A Spatial Variant Motion Compensation Algorithm for High-Monofrequency Motion Error in Mini-UAV-Based BiSAR Systems

High-frequency motion errors can drastically decrease the image quality in mini-unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV)-based bistatic synthetic aperture radar (BiSAR), where the spatial variance is much more complex than that in monoSAR. High-monofrequency motion error is a special BiSAR case in which the different motion errors from transmitters and receivers lead to the formation of monofrequency motion error. Furthermore, neither of the classic processors, BiSAR and monoSAR, can compensate for the coupled high-monofrequency motion errors. In this paper, a spatial variant motion compensation algorithm for high-monofrequency motion errors is proposed. First, the bistatic rotation error model that causes high-monofrequency motion error is re-established to account for the bistatic spatial variance of image formation. Second, the corresponding parameters of error model nonlinear gradient are obtained by the joint estimation of subimages. Third, the bistatic spatial variance can be adaptively compensated for based on the error of the nonlinear gradient through contour projection. It is suggested based on the simulation and experimental results that the proposed algorithm can effectively compensate for high-monofrequency motion error in mini-UAV-based BiSAR system conditions.