A fast simulation method of ground clutter for airborne wideband radar based on measured SAR image

Abstract

Ground clutter simulation is a key factor in the design and development of air-to-ground wideband radar. In this paper, the ground clutter simulation technology of stepped frequency airborne wideband radar is studied, and a fast simulation method of ground clutter based on SAR image is proposed. Firstly, the segmented area of high-resolution SAR image according to the radar illumination region is used as the input of the ground scattering coefficient to improve the fidelity of clutter simulation. Then, the antenna pattern is constructed by the uniform plane phased array, by which the power gain of the clutter point is modulated. Thirdly, the clutter echo of stepped-frequency radar is calculated according to the equidistant circle principle which improves the efficiency of computation. Finally, the proposed method is verified via computer simulation. The results show that the method can simulate ground clutter of radial space-variation effect induced by narrow antenna beam, verifying the effectiveness of the method. This method is applicable to various scenarios.