With the objective of exploiting hardware capabilities and preparing the ground for the next-generation Xband synthetic aperture radar (SAR) missions, TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X are now able to operate in staring spotlight mode, which is characterized by an increased azimuth resolution of approximately 0:24 m compared to 1:1 m of the conventional sliding spotlight mode. In this manuscript, we demonstrate for the first time its potential for SAR tomography. To this end, we tailored our interferometric and tomographic processors for the distinctive features of the staring spotlight mode, which will be analyzed accordingly. By means of its higher spatial resolution, the staring spotlight mode will lead to more accurate and efficient height estimations due to the higher signal-to-clutter ratio and fewer layover effects, respectively. As a result of a rough comparison between sliding and staring spotlight TomoSAR, the following were observed: 1) the accuracy of the estimated relative height of the staring spotlight point cloud is approximately 4–6 times as high; 2) the density of the staring spotlight point cloud is approximately 6–7 times as high; 3) the ratio of the number of single scatterers to the number of double scatterers of the staring spotlight point cloud is approximately 6–7 times as high.     «

With the objective of exploiting hardware capabilities and preparing the ground for the next-generation Xband synthetic aperture radar (SAR) missions, TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X are now able to operate in staring spotlight mode, which is characterized by an increased azimuth resolution of approximately 0:24 m compared to 1:1 m of the conventional sliding spotlight mode. In this manuscript, we demonstrate for the first time its potential for SAR tomography. To this end, we tailored our interferometr...     »