Title
Rough-Surface Polarimetry in Companion SAR Missions
Author
Iannini, L. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning)
Comite, D. (Sapienza Universita di Roma)
Pierdicca, N. (Sapienza Universita di Roma)
Lopez Dekker, F.J. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning) 
Date
2022
Abstract
Bistatic scattering from rough surfaces is typically approached through the analysis of the scattered field in the conventional H and V polarization basis, which coincides with the zenith and azimuth unit vectors in a spherical reference frame. This study delves into the impacts of different choices of the transmit and receive linear basis on the performance and design of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mission receive-only companion. This article formalizes the rotation of the scattered wave orientation at the antenna axes of the companion with respect to the transmitted one and introduces a novel set of linear polarizations, named principal polarizations, in transmit and receive, deemed more suited to represent the scattering mechanisms of rough surfaces. Such a set is defined by the polarization bases that maximize the radar cross section. It is shown that the theoretical estimates from the proposed geometrical framework provide a good agreement with analytical and numerical simulations, performed considering state-of-the-art numerical solutions. In addition, this article promotes the hypothesis that a bistatic radar configuration, defined through the conventional H and V linear basis, presents a strong similarity, from a target information retrieval standpoint, to a monostatic compact φ-pol mode, i.e., with the transmission of a linear polarization rotated by an angle φ. The rotation φ varies over the swath and as a function of satellite separation. For baselines of 250-300 km, such as those envisioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) Harmony Earth Explorer candidate, and for steep incidence angles, an equivalent π8-pol can be achieved for rough surfaces.
Subject
Rough-surface polarimetry
bistatic scattering
scattering symmetry
compact polarizations
companion SAR missions
Earth Explorer Harmony
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:fad70637-d69d-4c7a-bbc4-ab9fa8066aae
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2022.3166124
Embargo date
2023-07-01
ISSN
1558-0644
Source
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 60
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Part of collection
Institutional Repository
Document type
journal article
Rights
© 2022 L. Iannini, D. Comite, N. Pierdicca, F.J. Lopez Dekker