Target imaging using a synthesized bistatic radar

The problem of radar imaging when the imaging system is composed of a group of phased arrays with arbitrary radiation patterns and coordinates (multistatic configuration) is discussed. Each phased array has a finite aperture and is used for transmitting and receiving functions, or both. A receiving phases array can make a synchronous or asynchronous detection of the backscattered signal. The approach is to exploit the arrays´ various radiation patterns to integrate the recorded backscattered signal and relate it to the target under study. Inverse scattering principles developed for a bistatic imaging system with a plane wave radiation pattern are adopted for a set of phases arrays with arbitrary radiation patterns. For this purpose, a linear processing of the available radiation patterns is used to synthesize the target´s backscattered signals for a limited number of bistatic geometries. Also, it is shown that these array processing principles can be utilized to formulate a system model and inversion for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that incorporates wavefront curvature.<>