The monostatic-bistatic equivalence theorem and bistatic radar clutter

The applicability of the monostatic-bistatic equivalence theorem (MBET) for predicting the bistatic normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of a terrain surface given knowledge of its monostatic NRCS is examined. The first order small perturbation method (SPM) of rough surface scattering is used as an example theory for characterizing terrain backscatter. An appropriate MBET is developed for the SPM, but is found to be insufficient to predict bistatic NRCS properties in specific polarizations. However, the method is shown to be successful in describing the “total” NRCS (a combination of the NRCS in four polarization combinations.) Implications of these results for modeling bistatic clutter and possible methods for deriving a polarization specific MBET are also discussed.