Surface echo reduction by clutter simulation, application to the Marsis data

Low frequency spaceborne radar is a promising opportunity to investigate Earth subsurface in arid and polar areas and for planetary exploration. The radar signal penetrates subsurface and the return signal is the sum of the surface clutter and the subsurface signal that is the signal of interest. In this paper, we describe the simulation of the surface clutter. This signal consists of two parts: electromagnetic waves scattered and one coherently reflected by the surface. Both components are jointly simulated using facet method and an elevation model. So, the method is applied to the Marsis radar experiment. The surface description (elevation model) is based on the Mola data while the simulation parameters are optimized using the instrument characteristics. The comparison of the real data with the simulated clutter allows discrimination of subsurface echoes. This comparison demonstrates the method efficiency and is the base for Marsis data interpretation. Some general conclusions concerning the simulations for other radars will be drawn.