ISARLAB: a radar signal processing tool

Collecting radar data in the field is both expensive and time consuming. The paper presents a radar simulator called ISARLAB which has been specifically designed to meet the needs of high resolution target classification studies. The main problem with radar simulation is modeling complexity. ISARLAB does not attempt to model the electromagnetic phenomena to a predetermined depth, but rather to a level which satisfies the objective of producing signatures for target classification studies. ISARLAB models the essential target attributes which are likely to be useful for target classification. To exercise ISARLAB, the experimental conditions from a previous radar data collection trial are duplicated. The results show that ISARLAB produces ISAR images comparable in quality to those produced from real data