SAR image formation toolbox for MATLAB

While many synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation techniques exist, two of the most intuitive methods for implementation by SAR novices are the matched filter and backprojection algorithms. The matched filter and (non-optimized) backprojection algorithms are undeniably computationally complex. However, the backprojection algorithm may be successfully employed for many SAR research endeavors not involving considerably large data sets and not requiring time-critical image formation. Execution of both image reconstruction algorithms in MATLAB is explicitly addressed. In particular, a manipulation of the backprojection imaging equations is supplied to show how common MATLAB functions, ifft and interp1, may be used for straight-forward SAR image formation. In addition, limits for scene size and pixel spacing are derived to aid in the selection of an appropriate imaging grid to avoid aliasing. Example SAR images generated though use of the backprojection algorithm are provided given four publicly available SAR datasets. Finally, MATLAB code for SAR image reconstruction using the matched filter and backprojection algorithms is provided.