Full-Polarization Modeling of Monostatic and Bistatic Radar Scattering From a Rough Sea Surface

Fully polarimetric radars have advantages compared to more conventional single-polarization radars when measuring ocean wave characteristics. However, the theoretical analysis of full-polarization radar scattering frequently presents a challenge. For example, the classical composite model fails to correctly predict the cross-polarization components of the normalized radar cross section (NRCS). The new version of the numerical implementation of the small slope approximation of the second order, the SSA2, is presented in this paper. The SSA2 correctly predicts the behavior of out-of-plane bistatic scattering for an arbitrary set of polarization indices. The SSA2, as contrasted with the composite model, accounts for Bragg scattering of the second order which is essential for modeling cross-polarization scattering. We present the results of numerical simulations of both monostatic and bistatic cross sections and scattering amplitude correlators for various ocean conditions and transmitter-receiver geometries using the SSA2. We compare them with available experimental data and other modeling results.