Design And Implementation Of Space-borne PolSAR Simulating And Processing Software

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a coherent imaging radar, which can obtaintwo-dimensional (2-D) high resolution images during day and night and in all weatherconditions. Compared to the conventional SAR system, polarimetric synthetic apertureradar (PolSAR) obtains more information of ground targets by emitting and receivingdifferent polarimetric electromagnetic waves. PolSAR is a research focus of radarremote sensing. To verify the performance of the space-borne PolSAR system, it isnecessary to analyze the entire working process as well as the effect of various errorfactors on the performance of the space-borne PolSAR. The development ofsimulation software system is an effective way to achieve this task.. Therefore,developing a space-borne PolSAR simulating and processing software bears greatsignificance in the engineering practice.Based on the principle of space-borne PolSAR, a scheme is proposed for thesystem architecture design of the space-borne PolSAR simulating and processingsoftware, combining with software architecture design principles, software engineeringideas and space-borne PolSAR characteristics. And then, under the basis of MicrosoftFoundation Class Library, the space-borne PolSAR simulating and processing softwareis implemented. The software system includes four modules, i.e., PolSAR echosimulation module, SAR imaging module, performance analysis module, andapplication evaluation module. The echo simulation module contains thirteen workmodes, such as spotlight SAR, standard stripmap SAR, high-resolution wide-swath(HRWS) SAR, narrow-beam and wide-beam scanSAR, and it also contains simulationparameters setting sub-modules like satellite platform parameters setting, payloadparameters setting, transmission link parameters setting and scene parameters setting.The SAR imaging module corresponds to the thirteen different work modes of thesatellite system, containing the Doppler estimation, processing bandwidth, and the typeof output images. The performance of the PolSAR system is evaluated by theperformance analysis module with point targets or/and distributed targets. Theevaluation of the space-borne PolSAR application is realized in the applicationevaluation module, including topographic mapping and ocean application evaluation.Besides mentioned above, the friendly interface and the easy operation are emphasizedduring the software design. To reduce the difficulty of radar system design, the softwareencapsulates the input parameters and the processed results to a designed project, inwhich the latest processing results can be viewed and modified. Meanwhile, the software system contains some processing functions for the large scale images, such asimages zoom in, images zoom out and images brightness/contrast adjustment. Thefunctionality and implementation of key modules of the software are described, as wellas its application and operating instructions, etc. Finally, some design proposals of thespace-borne PolSAR simulation software are provided.