The calibration and characterisation of high resolution polarimetric SAR target signatures

Using conventional calibration methods we have produced a polarimetrically calibrated image set of a number of vehicle types over a range of look angles. One such of these sets has been the subject of preliminary analysis. We have also developed a more robust and efficient calibration technique using a rotating dihedral target. The variation of polarimetric intensity over 360° of aspect angle has been used to highlight both the differences in the scattering mechanisms between the co- and cross-polar polarisations and the high degree of correlation between the two co-polar channels. Principal component analysis has been used to show that when averaging pixels over the entire vehicle a large percentage of information is contained within a measure of the total intensity. Whereas at these very high resolutions, when isolated scatterers may be resolved, initial analysis shows that the polarimetric channels contain additional target information