Proof of concept for airborne SAR imaging with 5 cm resolution in X-band

In this paper, ultra-high resolution SAR imaging based on an upgrade of the airborne X-band SAR/GMTI demonstrator PAMIR of Fraunhofer FHR to a simultaneous bandwidth of 3 GHz is presented. For the first time a geometrical in-plane resolution of 5 cm times 2 cm (range; azimuth) in airborne X-band SAR could be demonstrated. The feasibility of airborne multi-pass interferometry is shown as well, whereby the potential of fine height sensitivity offers the discrimination of small structures in the third dimension, too.