Synthetic Aperture Radar Images of a Simple Room Based on Computer Models

Abstract

This report investigates the application of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging techniques to sensing through the wall (STTW) scenarios based on radar data obtained through computer simulation of electromagnetic (EM) scattering problems using either the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method or Xpatch. We analyze the radar phenomenology for simple through-the-wall imaging scenarios and offer guidelines for a performance prediction and radar parameter trade-off. Our simulations show that, for these configurations, SAR techniques clearly resolve human targets when the construction material is brick, but do not achieve the same performance for concrete or cinder block walls. We demonstrate that using the cross-polarization radar mode can result in enhanced target-to-clutter ratios. By comparing the images obtained through the FDTD and Xpatch simulations, we show that both modeling methods achieve reasonable accuracy for this type of application. We also discuss two imaging formation techniques (spotlight and strip-map) and emphasize the differences in the resulting images. The existence of ghost images in a STTW scenario is explained by analyzing multipath propagation effects inside a room.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA522289

Entities

People

  • Calvin D. Le
  • Lam M. Nguyen
  • Traian V. Dogaru

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Air Platforms
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Simulations
  • Construction Materials
  • Cross Polarization
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Diffraction
  • Geometry
  • Imaging Techniques
  • Materials
  • Multipath Transmission
  • Radar
  • Radar Images
  • Scattering
  • Simulations
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar
  • Two Dimensional
  • Wave Propagation

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Computer Vision.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.