Patent ID: 7196653

Claim:
A radar imaging apparatus for imaging a surface from a platform moving relative to the surface comprising: transmitting means for transmitting radiation to the surface; receiving means for receiving the radiation, after it has been scattered from the surface, along a predetermined receive path; and processing means for processing signals representative of the received radiation to provide radar attitude information, the attitude information being representative of the pointing of the platform resolved into a number of axial components, and wherein the attitude information is derived in dependence upon a determination of a range characteristic relative to the surface and upon a determination of a Doppler frequency distribution associated with the scattered radiation, wherein said processing means comprises a first circuitry portion arranged to correlate the received data associated with the scattered radiation with predetermined radar antenna pattern data, a second circuitry portion arranged to derive peak position data represntative of the radar antenna boresight direction, a third circuitry portion arranged to transform said peak position data into slant range and Doppler frequency space, and a fourth circuitry portion arranged to determine said attitude information in dependence upon the various circuitry operations.