The research activity during my PhD will focus on the imaging capabilities of Distributed SAR spaceborne sensors, with particular attention to constellations of small satellites. The research is inscribed in the New Space Era, where most of the attention is focused on creating small, cost-effective space platforms, however able, by the employment of innovative techniques, to obtain remote sensing performance comparable to those of traditional SAR platforms.

Therefore, my objective is to develop SAR imaging techniques in the context of multistatic, single-channel acquisitions, where signal parameters are the only available observable on board. In this context, it is of paramount importance to identify proper imaging techniques, since the acquisitions are all achieved in squinted SAR geometry. The first part of my research is dedicated to the possibility of estimating ground movers complete motion vector by only exploiting the signal parameters considering a multistatic SAR constellation. In this portion of my study, performance of proposed techniques will be evaluated and a proper comparison to those of a traditional SAR motion indication technique will be given.

The second part of my research instead covers the imaging abilities of a SAR constellation exploiting signals opportunity. In this context, passive SAR will be employed and its ability to estimate ground object’s motion will be studied. As a consequence, the main objective of my PhD is to identify proper imaging and motion estimation techniques suitable for multistatic acquisitions.

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