Electromagnetic modelling of complex targets in the near zone and comparison with experimental results

A comprehensive performance assessment of a radar system through simulation requires the complete and accurate modelling of the operating environment, the subsystems and their interactions. The electromagnetic (EM) modelling of target reflectivity is a fundamental area of the radar system design since the model selection often drives the system parameter selection. For specific radar applications, the prediction of target radar cross section (RCS) together with a complete antenna simulation, requires a special electromagnetic analysis to characterise the target in the so called "near zone". This occurs when the operational distances between the antenna and the scattering elements of the target are of the order of the maximum dimension of the target itself. The purpose of this paper is to give a description of the general methodology and algorithms used for the modelling and the simulation of the electromagnetic behaviour of complex targets in the near zone. A comparison of theoretical results with experimental data is also provided and discussed in this paper.