Generation of SAR Image for Real-life Objects using General Purpose EM Simulators

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how general-purpose electromagnetic simulators can be used to generate synthetic SAR images of real-world objects, aiding radar research and system design.

Contribution

It introduces a method to create SAR image databases from generic EM simulators, overcoming data collection challenges in radar applications.

Findings

Generated SAR images of ground targets using EM simulators

Showed the quality of images through example results

Provided a cost-effective alternative to specialized radar data collection

Abstract

In the applications related to airborne radars, simulation has always played an important role. This is mainly because of the two fold reason of the unavailability of desired data and the difficulty associated with the collection of data under controlled environment. A simple example will be regarding the collection of pure multipolar radar data. Even after phenomenal development in the field of radar hardware design and signal processing, till now the collection of pure multipolar data is a challenge for the radar system designers. Till very recently, the power of computer simulation of radar signal return was available to a very selected few. This was because of the heavy cost associated with some of the main line electro magnetic (EM) simulators for radar signal simulation, and secondly because many such EM simulators are for restricted marketting. However, because of the fast progress made in the field of EM simulation, many of the current generic EM simulators can be used to simulate radar returns from realistic targets. The current article expounds the steps towards generating a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image database of ground targets, using a eneric EM g simulator. It also demonstrates by the help of some example images, the quality of the SAR mage generated i using a general purpose EM simulator.