Research on SAR Imaging Simulation Based on Time-Domain Shooting and Bouncing Ray Algorithm

Abstract

The signal source of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) usually adopts the linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal, which exhibits the characteristics of a wide pulse. Hence, in the case of usage of the LFM signal by time-domain shooting and bouncing ray (TDSBR) to simulate the SAR echo signal, numerous time sampling points are generated, resulting in huge computational efforts; thereby, it is hard to exploit the TDSBR algorithm for simulating the SAR echo. In order to unlock this dilemma, the hybrid approach, the transfer function in conjunction with the range frequency-domain pulse coherence, is developed, in which the transfer function is stated by the radar cross-section. The proposed methodology is capable of enhancing the computational efficiency through avoiding the massive time sampling, so that the suggested TDSBR approach could be more conveniently applied to the SAR echo simulations. Furthermore, because of the efficiency advantage of the TDSBR in the calculation of wideband scattering field, the proposed methodology exhibits higher computational efficiency than the frequency-domain shooting and bouncing ray in the SAR image simulation. Finally, the key equation of the TDSBR for the transient scattering field of dielectric targets based on a closed-form integration formula is analytically derived, which is the basis of SAR imaging simulation for the composite scene of ships above the sea surface.