Real-time synthetic aperture radar processing

Abstract

Real-time acousto-optic SAR processors are described and experimentally demonstrated. SAR imaging is performed in one of the architectures by applying the signal to an acousto-optic device and correlating it with chirp signals recorded on an optical transparency by time integration on a CCD detector. In a different implementation, the imaging is preformed by interfering the light beams diffracted from two separate acousto-optic devices, one modulated the radar signal and the second by the reference chirp waveform.