Mirror-Based ArcSAR: Compact System Design and Azimuth Sidelobe Reduction for 360° Imaging of Complex Scenarios

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mirror-Based ArcSAR

T2 - Compact System Design and Azimuth Sidelobe Reduction for 360° Imaging of Complex Scenarios

AU - Zhao, Weiqi

AU - Wu, Kejiang

AU - Zhang, Zijun

AU - Li, Wenbo

AU - Xiang, Jinzhi

AU - Shen, Qing

AU - Cui, Wei

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 IEEE.

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - Arc synthetic aperture radar (ArcSAR) employs a rotating arm to drive the antenna along a circular trajectory, and thus, achieves full-azimuth imaging. However, ArcSAR implementation faces critical limitations in size- and efficiency-sensitive uncrewed platforms, as the long rotating arm leads to a large horizontal size and introduces centrifugal issues during rapid rotation. In this article, we propose a compact mirror-based ArcSAR system that utilizes specular reflection to convert the physical rotation radius into a virtual one, thereby bringing benefits to reducing the system's horizontal size and alleviating instability during rapid rotation. In addition, in order to suppress the high azimuth sidelobes, a back projection algorithm tailored for mirror-based BPA based on FPCF (ArcBPA-FPCF) is introduced for full-azimuth 2-D imaging. By employing the azimuth coefficient and norm constraint of normalized range profile projection, the ArcBPA-FPCF enables high-dynamic-range, 360° 2-D imaging of surrounding areas with low additional computational burden. Examples from numerical simulation and indoor and outdoor measurements are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mirror-based ArcSAR system and the performance of the ArcBPA-FPCF in azimuth sidelobes suppression.

AB - Arc synthetic aperture radar (ArcSAR) employs a rotating arm to drive the antenna along a circular trajectory, and thus, achieves full-azimuth imaging. However, ArcSAR implementation faces critical limitations in size- and efficiency-sensitive uncrewed platforms, as the long rotating arm leads to a large horizontal size and introduces centrifugal issues during rapid rotation. In this article, we propose a compact mirror-based ArcSAR system that utilizes specular reflection to convert the physical rotation radius into a virtual one, thereby bringing benefits to reducing the system's horizontal size and alleviating instability during rapid rotation. In addition, in order to suppress the high azimuth sidelobes, a back projection algorithm tailored for mirror-based BPA based on FPCF (ArcBPA-FPCF) is introduced for full-azimuth 2-D imaging. By employing the azimuth coefficient and norm constraint of normalized range profile projection, the ArcBPA-FPCF enables high-dynamic-range, 360° 2-D imaging of surrounding areas with low additional computational burden. Examples from numerical simulation and indoor and outdoor measurements are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mirror-based ArcSAR system and the performance of the ArcBPA-FPCF in azimuth sidelobes suppression.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105029262653

U2 - 10.1109/TAES.2026.3658417

DO - 10.1109/TAES.2026.3658417

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105029262653

SN - 0018-9251

VL - 62

SP - 5287

EP - 5301

JO - IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems

JF - IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems

ER -