Bistatic SAR pilot study: Simulations using FDTD
Publish date: 2003-01-01
Report number: FOI-R--0839--SE
Pages: 24
Written in: English
Abstract
The report compares bistatic and monostatic SAR image responses for different measurement geometries. The work is based on using the FDTD method for numerical electromagnetic computations together with SAR image simulation. The bistatic SAR geometries correspond to a fixed incident wave direction whereas the scattered wave direction varies along a vertical cone. A target scenario consisting of a truck surrounded by three vertical metallic cylinders is used for all simulations and the frequency band is 20-90 MHz. The results show that the bistatic SAR images give similar image resolution properties (spectral coverage) when compared to monostatic SAR. Furthermore, vertical polarization gives a lower bistatic response of the target compared to horizontal polarization, whereas the reverse is true for the three vertical cylinders. This suggests that horizontal polarization gives improved target-to-background contrast also in the bistatic SAR case. The simulations also show that the bistatic image response of the truck target increases when the scattering angle is reduced compared to the incidence angle.