The characteristic polarization states for the coherent and partially polarized case

Basic principles of radar polarimetry are introduced. The target characteristic polarization state theory is developed first for the coherent case using the three step, the basis transformation, and the power (Mueller) matrix optimization procedures. Kennaugh´s and Huynen´s theories of radar target polarimetry are verified for the monostatic reciprocal case. It is shown that there exist in total five unique pairs of characteristic polarization states for the symmetric scattering matrix. The theory is verified by an example in which the polarization fork co-polarized and cross-polarized power density plots are presented. In a next step, the partially polarized case for completely polarized wave incidence is presented and compared with the results for the coherent and the partially coherent cases, the latter still being unresolved