Abstract

High-resolution imaging with the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technique is widely recognized as the most successful application of optical information processing to date. Optical signal processing (OSP) techniques have been applied to the collection and processing of SAR data since the introduction of the technique over thirty years ago. Despite this success the use of optical techniques for real-time SAR applications has generally been precluded by the need for chemical processing of the film on which the radar data are recorded. Consequently, and in concert with the dramatic successes in integrated circuit technology, most existing real-time SAR processors are based on electronic signal processing techniques. Recent advances in optical transducer technology, however, have given rise to renewed interest in real-time optical SAR. Specifically, a time-and-space integrating (TSI) architecture has been developed that uses acousto-optic (AO) Bragg cells and charge-coupled device (CCD) detector arrays to generate SAR images at real-time rates [1]. This architecture compares favorably with the all-electronic approaches in the areas of speed, size, power consumption, and EMI/EMP immunity. Recent developments in the TSI architecture have incorporated electronic programmability and flexibility to expand the realm of practical application of the approach [2,3].

© 1987 Optical Society of America