SAR imaging simulation for an inhomogeneous undulated lunar surface based on triangulated irregular network

Based on the statistics of the lunar cratered terrain,e.g.,population,dimension and shape of craters,the terrain feature of cratered lunar surface is numerically generated. According to the inhomogeneous distribution of the lunar surface slope,the triangulated irregular network (TIN) is employed to make the digital elevation of lunar surface model. The Kirchhoff approximation of surface scattering is then applied to simulation of lunar surface scattering. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image for comprehensive cratered lunar surface is numerically generated using back projection (BP) algorithm of SAR imaging. Making use of the digital elevation and Clementine UVVIS data at Apollo 15 landing site as the ground truth,an SAR image at Apollo 15 landing site is simulated. The image simulation is verified using real SAR image and echoes statistics.