The second-order bistatic high frequency radar scattering cross section of the ocean surface for the case of floating platform

The second-order bistatic high frequency radar cross section of ocean surface is derived for the case of a fixed receiver and a floating transmitter. The second-order radar cross section contains both the hydrodynamic contribution and the electromagnetic contribution. The second-order hydrodynamic contribution is obtained based on the first-order bistatic model with antenna motion. The derivation of the second-order electromagnetic contribution begins with a general expression for the bistatically received second-order electric field for the case of floating antenna. A new bistatic electromagnetic coupling coefficient, which unlike some earlier versions produces no nonphysical singularities in the radar cross section, is derived. The new radar cross section model is simulated and compared with that of monostatic case. The motion-induced second-order peaks appearing in the spectrum are seen to have significantly less energy than those in the first-order case.