Analysis of foliage-induced azimuthal synthetic pattern distortions

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Abstract
Phase and amplitude fluctuations induced by wave propagation through foliage limit the ability of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system to image a target under foliage. One-way measurements of these fluctuations were done using the NASA/JPL C-, L-, UHF band SAR during the Lincoln Laboratory July 1990 Foliage Penetration Experiment. In this experiment, single-frequency CW signal sources, 'tone generators', were placed in the open and under foliage in order to measure one-way propagation. Three tone generator sites located under trees and one tone generator site in the open were utilized. Tone generators at the open site were used as controls. At each site, six tone generators were deployed, one for each frequency and polarization utilized by the NASA/JPL SAR system. The statistical properties of the phase and amplitude fluctuations induced by the foliage are determined for each tone generator site, frequency, and polarization. The effect of these amplitude and phase fluctuations on the ability of a SAR system to image a target *bscured by foliage is shown. These results are compared with the measured ground truth for each tone generator site. The ground truth measured during the experiment includes foliage densities, moisture contents, and permittivities.

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