Towards a field-ready HF-VHF ground-based ice penetrating synthetic aperture radar: Forward modelling and validation for SAR imaging

A ray-based 2D modelling approach is proposed to reduce computation times involved in the forward-modelling of deramped frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar signals for subglacial ice features. The model generation procedure and link-budget are described, prior to validation and benchmarking of the ray-based approach using a commercial 3D FDTD simulator. The proposed model results in a reduced computation time of three orders of magnitude per range profile, for comparable power and phase outputs. This provides a highly efficient numerical method for investigating subglacial ice structures with more realistic sizes and features.

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