A novel high resolution optical SAR processor for satellite applications

Onboard SAR data imaging is increasingly important for many satellite applications. And optical SAR processor is one promising solution due to its extremely quick calculation speed, simple structure and strong radiation hardness. Recent relative researches done by researchers of National Optics Institute in Canada prove the feasibility of optical processor, but its resolution of 30 meter is relatively low. This paper proposes a novel high resolution optical SAR processor which is based on the Range Doppler Algorithm. The processor includes two main elements: the optical one-dimensional Fourier transformation element and the spatial light modulator (SLM). The usage of several SLMs gives wider parameter adjustment boundary and more flexibility to the processor.