SAR images simulation with ionospheric phase screen

Low-frequencies SAR images (especially at P or L band) can be impacted by ionosphere layer irregularities. Ionospheric stripes on SAR images are a well-known phenomena due to high electronic density anisotropy in ionosphere at low latitude. Some authors have already presented methods for the simulation of disturbed images, based on propagation modeling using the Parabolic Wave Equation method. This work presents a method for ionospheric phase screen generation based on the Rytov's theory of weak scattering which allows deriving analytic formulations of log-amplitude and phase spatial spectra of the received signal. These spectra are used to create a 2D phase screen modeling the propagation of an electromagnetic wave crossing the ionosphere and propagating from the satellite to the ground. The SAR signal is modulated with the phase screen which allows to consider ionosphere impact and create a disturbed SAR image.