Information content in SAR images of urban areas

Abstract

In this paper we present a SAR raw signal simulator based on a model of the electromagnetic field scattered by an urban structure and on a radar model. The simulation scheme also accounts for the time-domain problems related to the optical path length of the scattering contributions. Examples of simulated images are provided, along with a discussion devoted to identify the information content in SAR images of urban areas and to point out results useful for the image interpretation.