Modeling of bistatic scattering from the anisotropic earth surfaces

Abstract

Approximate numerical modeling of microwave bistatic scattering (BS) from anisotropic rough surfaces, simulating large baselines radar bistatic system, is analyzed in this contribution. The investigation is performed in the framework of the SAOCOM-CS scientific satellite mission, a small satellite under design by the European Space Agency, to be associated with the Argentinian SAOCOM 1B satellite, aiming at collecting bistatic radar data at L-band. Similar bistatic concepts are being investigated at C-band as well. The main features of the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of the sea surface in different operating conditions are discussed. This represents the first step to assess the potentiality of bistatic radar observations of natural surfaces with large baseline, and to gather valuable information on the bistatic scattering properties for the design of future spatial missions.