Simulation of dual-polarization bistatic scattering from rain and hail

S-band bistatic radar parameters are simulated to evaluate their potential for discriminating rain and hail and estimating their median size. In this paper, results for vertically polarized transmission with co- and cross-polarized reception are considered for several bistatic directions. The linear depolarization ratio, the effective reflectivity factor, the bistatic to backscatter reflectivity ratio (BBR_v), and the correlation coefficient between the co- and cross-polarized returns are evaluated. It is observed that each one of these parameters can differentiate rain from hail under certain conditions. However, when all of them are used in combination they can be effective over a broader range of possibilities. It is also noted that BBR_v may be a good estimator of median size