Electromagnetic Characterization of Corner Reflectors for Calibration of SAR Technology

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology is present in a variety of Earth observation missions, like PAZ satellite, gathering information in such important fields as national defence, high resolution mapping environmental research, etc. To guarantee correct and accurate data, the SAR system must be appropriately calibrated. While there are several means to achieve this, passive elements such as corner reflectors are frequently used for the task. In this work, three calibration corner reflectors are studied: a reference steel model, an aluminium prototype manufactured according to a new geometry and a polylactic acid (PLA) model whose surface is coated with conductive nickel paint. The radar cross-section (RCS) of these reflectors is simulated using Ansys HFSS software and measured in the bistatic anechoic chamber (BIANCHA) belonging to the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). Finally, these results are compared with each other and with the theoretical RCS of the trihedrals.