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Possible effects of clear-air refractive-index perturbations on SAR images.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:949011
Airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems have reached a degree of accuracy and sophistication that requires the validity of the free-space approximation for radio-wave propagation to be questioned. Based on the thin-lens approximation, a closed-form model for the focal length of a gravity wave-modulated refractive-index interface in the lower troposphere is developed. The model corroborates the suggestion that mesoscale, quasi-deterministic variations of the clear-air radio refractive-index field can cause diffraction patterns on the ground that are consistent with reflectivity artifacts occasionally seen in SAR images, particularly in those collected at long ranges, short wavelengths, and small grazing angles.
Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
949011
Report Number(s):
SAND2005-1978C
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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