Determination of Cross-Polarization Parameters in the Presence of Drift in Radar Cross Section Measurements

Published

October 1, 2006

Author(s)

Lorant A. Muth

Abstract

We use a rotating dihedral to determine the cross-polarization ratios of radar cross section measurement systems. Even a small amplitude drift can severely degrade the calibration accuracy, since the calibration relies on accurate determination of polarimetric data over a large dynamic range. We show analytically how drift introduces errors into the system parameters, and outline an analytic procedure that allows us to minimize the influence of drift to estimate error-free system parameters with greater accuracy. We show that only very limited information about the drift is needed to provide measured system parameters accurate to second-order in the error-free parameters. Higher-order accuracies can be achieved by using more detailed information about the drift. We use simulations to explain and illustrate the analytic development of this theory. We also show that using cross-polarimetric measurements on a cylinder we can recover the exact system parameters. These findings show that we can now calibrate polarimetric radar cross section systems without the large uncertainties that can be introduced by drift.

Proceedings Title

Antenna Measurements Techniques Association 2006

Conference Dates

October 22-27, 2006

Conference Location

Austin, TX

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

calibration accuracy, polarimetric calibration, radar cross section measurements, radar system parameters

Citation

Muth, L. (2006), Determination of Cross-Polarization Parameters in the Presence of Drift in Radar Cross Section Measurements, Antenna Measurements Techniques Association 2006, Austin, TX (Accessed September 17, 2025)