Single-Pass Tomography With Alternating Bistatic TanDEM-X Data

In this letter, the suitability of alternating bistatic (AB) TanDEM-X data for tomographic processing is demonstrated. The AB acquisition mode allows to acquire data from three different phase centers at the same time by means of a single pass of the TSX-1 and TDX-1 satellites. The channels of an AB acquisition present no temporal decorrelation within them. In addition, the atmospheric delay can be considered equal for all the channels. This letter analyzes the use of a single acquisition in the AB mode for tomographic processing. The theoretical analysis and the experimental result show that it is possible to separate different scattering mechanisms within a resolution cell under certain constraints.