Phase-Encoded Linear Sampling Method Imaging of 3D Targets from Circular Synthetic Aperture Data

We present a technique for imaging 3D targets from synthetic apertures using a variant of the linear sampling method (LSM). The rationale for an LSM-based approach is to mitigate simplifying assumptions used in many conventional RF imaging algorithms in order to achieve higher image fidelity. Our LSM variant, which we refer to as the phase-encoded LSM (PE-LSM), is formulated to overcome the principal challenge to synthetic-aperture-based LSM imaging - its need for copious multistatic channels. We apply the PE-LSM to simulated target data using only monostatic data from circular synthetic apertures. The results demonstrate improved image fidelity compared to results from a conventional backprojection-based algorithm.