A 3‐D Shape Reconstruction Strategy for Small Solar System Bodies With Single Flyby Spaceborne Radar

Abstract

Abstract This article presents a novel 3‐D shape reconstruction strategy for small solar system bodies using spaceborne radar which is applied in flyby trajectories to characterize multiple targets in one mission to save time and cost. In this study, we establish a measurement geometry for rapidly spinning small solar system bodies that combines the motion properties of synthetic aperture radar and circular synthetic aperture radar techniques. We also propose a modified imaging algorithm, which is processed using Cardano's formula and the modified polar format algorithm, to improve the imaging quality. Finally, we present simulated results of point‐scattering and 3D shape models. Our analysis shows that the shape reconstruction errors of the algorithm are less than 1.5 m as indicated by the standard deviation.

Keywords

• spaceborne radar
• planetary observation
• SAR imaging