An incoherent simulator for the SHARAD experiment

SHARAD (shallow radar) is a sounder and altimeter with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capability provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as a Facility Instrument to NASApsilas 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Primary objective of this nadir-looking sounder is to map Martian surface and subsurface down to several hundred meters depth with vertical resolution of 15 m and horizontal resolution of a few hundred meters (300 m-1 Km). In this paper we are going to present an incoherent simulator for the surface echoes received from SHARAD that utilizes only geometrical projections and the operating principle of the synthetic aperture radar. Making use of a convenient model of the Martian surface, our simulator is an important instrument for discriminating subsurface echoes from clutter artifacts.