APPLICATION OF THE TLM METHOD TO HALF-SPACE AND REMOTE-SENSING PROBLEMS

In this paper, the problem of scattering and radiation in the presence of a material half-space is solved using the Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) method. The TLM method is a general numerical method for obtain ing an approximate solution to the time-dependent form of Maxwell's eq uations in the presence of complex environments. The method requires t he discretization of the entire spatial domain of the problem and prov ides the transient response as well as (through discrete Fourier trans form) the frequency domain response. The three dimensional symmetric-c ondensed TLM node is applied. A total/scattered field formulation is a pplied to excite the space. The source used is an electrically shore e lectric dipole and is described analytically in the time domain. The m ethod is used to calculate near field distributions (in both the time and frequency domain) and the change in source input impedance of a di pole radiator in the presence of a half-space. Numerical simulations r elevant to the detection of buried objects are provided.