Non-uniform FFT's (NUFFT) algorithms applied to SAR imaging

Some recently developed algorithms known as Non-Uniform FFT's (NUFFT), which enable the computation of efficient FFT's with unequally spaced data in the time or frequency domain, have been applied to SAR imaging in this study. The main objective has been to analyze the potential improvement of the computational efficiency and/or image accuracy of seismic migration SAR processing techniques, like the w - k algorithm. Our approach consists in substituting both the Stolt interpolation and the final range inverse FFT by a single NUFFT. Numerical simulations illustrate the performance of the new method and the influence of the selection of NUFFT parameters in the precision and computation time of the SAR imaging algorithm. The new method is especially suited for near-field wide-band configurations, such as inverse SAR (ISAR) and ground-based systems, where a very precise imaging algorithm is required.