Improvement of iterative physical optics using the physical optics shadow radiation

Abstract

The prediction of Radar Cross Section (RCS) of complex targets which present shadowing effects is an interesting challenge. This paper deals with the problem of shadowing effects in the computation of electromagnetic scattering by a complex target using Iterative Physical Optics (IPO). The original IPO is limited to cavities applications, but a generalized IPO can be applied to arbitrary geometries. This paper proposes a comparison between the classical PO approach and a physical approach based on shadow radiation (around forward direction) with PO approximation for the consideration of shadowing effects in generalized IPO. Based on the integral equations, a rigorous demonstration of this physical shadowing is provided. Then simulation results illustrate the interest of using physical shadowing both from the transmitter and towards the receiver, compared to the classical approach.