Real-Time Implementation of Segmental Aperture Imaging Algorithm for Multirotor-Borne Minisar.

This paper addresses the unique motion errors that must be compensated for miniaturized synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR) onboard multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Segmental aperture imaging (SAI) algorithm is proposed which simply divides the platform trajectory into segments. Each segment is first independently focused with motion compensation and then stitched together to form a complete SAR image. A real-time SAI algorithm implementation is proposed. It performs overlapping sub-aperture for each segment and performs polynomial fitting of its phase. It is implemented on graphics processing unit (GPU). Finally, the data obtained by the FUSAR-Ku system is used to verify the effectiveness of the real-time SAI algorithm.