Error Analysis of Bistatic SAR Imaging and Stereoscopy Bistatic SAR

The flexible geometry configuration of the bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has many advantages. However, it causes serious measurement error in the bistatic SAR system, which degrades the quality of the SAR images and the precision of the digital elevation model (DEM) obtained using stereoscopy bistatic SAR. In this paper, the influence of the scene height estimation error, trigger delay, transmitter position measurement error, receiver position measurement error, and transmission line length measurement error are analyzed. These analyses are very useful in bistatic SAR system design. The scene height estimation error, trigger delay, transmitter position measurement error, and synchronization receiver position measurement error affect both the quality of the images and the precision of the DEM obtained by stereoscopy bistatic SAR slightly. The echo receiver position measurement error and transmission line length measurement error affect the quality of the imaging only slightly, but seriously affect the precision of the DEM obtained by stereoscopy bistatic SAR. Luckily, their measurement precision can be quite satisfactory. Simulations and real bistatic experimental results verify the proposed theoretical analysis.