The approach for enlargement of SAR patch mapping area by antenna beam scan is investigated, which serves for moderate fine-resolution mapping of medium-sized terrain patches. The scanning angular velocity and the scanning angular scope are determined respectively. The angular velocity of the scanning antenna is controlled to scan over just one azimuth 3 dB beam width in the time interval during which the radar platform moves over one synthetic aperture length determined from the desired cross-range resolution, radar wavelength, nominal slant range, and squint angle. The scanning angular scope is mainly determined by the azimuth width of the terrain patch, nominal slant range, squint angle, platform velocity, and azimuth beam width. Finally, the related experimental results of an airborne SAR are presented. The linear range-Doppler algorithm is employed in image formation after motion compensation is conducted to remove the effect of transnational motion of the radar platform relative to the map center.
