Target discrimination in the S.A.R. systems by using radar polarimetry

For a SAR system that coherently transmits and receives both signals from an orthogonally polarized antenna pair, the elements of the resulting scattering [S] matrix can be measured. As a result, polarimetric processed imagery is visually much clearer than single-polarization channel imagery. In addition, fully polarimetric SAR imagery improves the performance of an ATR system, compared to the performance achieved by using single-polarization channel imagery. This paper gives a brief description of some polarimetric tools and techniques used to analyze and process polarimetric data. Several polarimetric discrimination results are displayed, demonstrating the potential capability of characteristic polarization imaging and the usefulness of polarimetric radar in the target discrimination process.