Use of polarimetric radar information for the classification and microphysical description of random targets

The usefulness of a coherent polarimetric radar for applications in microwave propagation (satellite communications) and cloud physics research is demonstrated with the DLR C-Band weather radar as an example. These radars permit the characterization of statistically distributed targets such as rain by a time series of relative scattering matrices, the Stokes-matrix, and the covariance matrix. This means, the whole information, inherent to the scattered wave due to the interaction with the target for the aspect angle and frequency under consideration, may be extracted. Coherent polarimetric backscatter measurements in combination with advanced signal processing algorithms proved to be extremely valuable for the discrimination of different targets and the derivation of (microphysical) information about the targets. The techniques applied to meteorological targets are also of great benefit to remote sensing of the Earth by synthetic aperture radars