Fine Time Synchronization for Bistatic and Multistatic Missions: the Harmony case

Abstract:
The paper analyzes the problem of achieving the correct alignment of the transmitter and receiver sampling windows (i.e.: the so-called Fine Time Synchronization) which represents, together with phase synchronization, one of the greatest challenges for bistatic and multistatic SAR. In this paper, we present a novel method that does not require any extra hardware on the satellites as it operates on the radar echo signal. After the description of the algorithm, the paper focuses on its validation, which has been done over several simulated data for the specific case of the Harmony mission. The most relevant results are presented and, eventually, conclusions are drafted.