Comparison of computational complexity of clutter simulation between polar and rectangular coordinates

To rationally select coordinate system based on the demands of high accuracy and less computational complexity, the clutter simulation computational complexity of airborne pulse Doppler radar (APDR) was compared between polar and rectangular coordinates by formula deduction. The analysis shows that the ratio of computational complexity between the two coordinates is closely related to the length of the minimum radius vector of clutter cells and the number of distance circles included in simulated region. The analysis results can provide theoretical basis for selecting proper coordinate based on different requirements. Finally, the results are verified by simulation. Methods of reducing the computational complexity of clutter simulation in rectangular coordinates are presented.