Range profile analysis of buried objects in layered media based on efficient full-wave simulation

Abstract

The high-resolution range profiles (RPs) of 3-D objects buried in layered media are investigated. In order to simulate the RPs efficiently, wideband scattered fields are calculated by a method of moments (MoM) based fast algorithm, i.e. characteristic basis function method (CBFM). To achieve fast frequency sweep, an adaptive frequency sampling strategy (AFS) is implemented to accelerate the broadband simulation. Then by using the inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), RPs of the object are obtained. To validate the proposed approach, range locations are predicted qualitatively based on the ray theory. Moreover, the ray approach also enables the physical interpretation of the scattering mechanisms corresponding to the peaks, for example, the specular reflection, the edge diffraction, and the higher-order effects. Since different scattering centers (SCs) dominate in different directions, the RPs are aspect dependent. Furthermore, the RPs are also dependent on the lossy and dispersive effects of the layered medium. Numerical results demonstrate that the peaks are significantly reduced when the layered medium is lossy, especially those due to the higher-order interactions between the object and the interfaces.