Multibeam synthetic aperture radar for global oceanography

A single-frequency multibeam synthetic aperture radar concept for large swath imaging desired for global oceanography is evaluated. Each beam illuminates a separate range and azimuth interval, and images for different beams may be separated on the basis of the Doppler spectrum of the beams or their spatial azimuth separation in the image plane of the radar processor. The azimuth resolution of the radar system is selected so that the Doppler spectrum of each beam does not interfere with the Doppler foldover due to the finite pulse repetition frequency of the radar system.