Analysis of SAR images by simulation

Abstract

Accurate simulation tools for the design of space borne synthetic aperture radar systems (SAR) are compulsory for the analysis of the system's capabilities, because ground based experimental tests are in most cases impossible and very costly. Through a simulation process it is possible to analyze the image quality parameters for a given system configuration or evaluating the effects in SAR images when this configuration is changed. A new fast SAR image simulator (SARIS) is currently under development on the basis of an existing toolset called SAR end-to-end simulator (SETES). This image simulator produces SAR images by using the point spread function (PSF) of a focused point target response in contrast to SETES's very expensive raw data generation module. In SARIS the SAR image is produced through a convolution of the PSF with the so-called reflectivity map of the scene. In this paper first simulation results with a prototype of SARIS are given to show effects like motion errors and low peak-to-side-lobe ratios.