In this paper we analyze the geometry mechanism of Synthetical Aperture Radar（SAR） imaging

and propose the Range-Cocone equation with Doppler parameter（RCD） for SAR imagery positioning taking linear and angular elements as orientation parameters.A serial of tests are taken that include orientation with single image

free-net adjustment without Ground Control Point（GCP）

block adjustment with sparse GCPs

and block adjustment with self-calibration parameters.The test datasets covered a part of Dengfeng suburb are 99 airborne SAR images with 0.5 m resolution and non-zero doppler parameter.Compared to R-D model

the presented RCD model decreases the number of orientation parameters and is convenient for adjustment combining SAR imagery with POS data.RCD based block adjustment model with self-calibration parameters can increase the accuracy greatly in the case where SAR sensor is not calibrated

or calibrated coarsely Tests also indicate that the airborne SAR imagery and the proposed positioning model can meet the accuracy requirement for aerial triangulation at the scale of 1∶5000 /1∶10000 over hill and mountainous areas with sparse GCPs.