On the Calculation of the Geometric Resolution and Energy Potential of a Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar in Geosynchronous Orbit

A model and a software module were developed to analyze the shape of the trajectory described by the subsatellite point on the Earth’s surface depending on eccentricity, perigee angle, and inclination of the geosynchronous orbit (GEO). For various parameters of the satellite’s orbit and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) equipment, we built the dependences of the geometric resolution in the longitudinal (azimuthal) and transverse (relative to the trajectory of the subsatellite point) direction, as well as the radiometric sensitivity of a SAR operating in GEO in the bistatic oblique quasi-specular mode of wave reflection from the Earth’s surface. The optimal time shifts of the orbital positions of two satellites constituting a bistatic pair were found, at which the specified restrictions on the SAR parameters are fulfilled for observation points in a wide area of ​​the Earth’s surface for a long time interval. A generalized assessment of a set of SAR parameters (transmitter and receiver antenna areas, size of the resolution element, and average transmitter power) that provides a given level of radiometric sensitivity is performed.