MUSIC-type electromagnetic imaging of a collection of small 3-D bounded scatterers
Résumé
In this paper we consider the localization of a collection of small, three-dimensional bounded homogeneous inclusions via time-harmonic electromagnetic means, typically using arrays of electric or magnetic dipole transmitters and receivers with given polarization(s) at some distance from the collection, possibly also lying in the far field. The inclusions, somewhat apart or closely spaced, are buried within a homogeneous medium, and are of arbitrary contrast of permittivity, conductivity, and permeability vis-a-vis this embedding medium. The problem is formulated as an inverse scattering problem for the full Maxwell equations and it involves a robust asymptotic modeling of the multistatic response matrix. No specific application is studied at this stage, but characteriza- tion of obstacles in subsoils, nondestructive evaluation of man-made structures, and medical imaging are primary fields of application envisaged. The proposed approach uses a MUSIC (multiple signal classification)-type algorithm, and it yields fast numbering, accurate localization, and estimates of the electromagnetic and geometric parameters (polarization tensors) of the inclusions. The mathematical machinery is detailed first, some specific attention being given to triaxial ellipsoidal inclusions and degenerate spherical shapes (for the latter known results are retrieved). Then, the viability of this algorithm--which would be easily extended to planarly layered environments by introduction of their Green's functions--is documented by a variety of numerical results from synthetic, noiseless, and severely noisy field data.