SAR Image Simulation with High Fidelity of Scattering Characteristics for Typical Buildings

In this paper, a fast technique is proposed for synthetical aperture radar (SAR) image simulation, which represents the electromagnetic (EM) scattering characteristics of typical buildings in a large terrain scene with high fidelity. The scattering signatures from the large SAR scene is generated by combining a grid-refined digital elevation model (DEM) with a modified semi-empirical model of the backscattering coefficients for typical terrains with different coverages. The scattering characteristics for typical buildings in the scene are further refined by counting on the scattering signatures of dihedral, trihedral and tophat-like reflectors from their wall-ground reflection structures, in addition to the layover and shadowing phenomenology. SAR simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed technique.