A qualitative analysis of backscattered radar waves from the lunar surface

High values of Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) tending to and rising beyond unity were thought to be robust diagnostics for water-ice. Such sightings were expected to correlate with regions of permanent shadow on the lunar surface. Recent researches have reported such findings on walls, floors, and proximal ejecta of impact craters, as well as on equatorial and sunlit zones. In an attempt to explain such sightings, we present a qualitative analysis of backscattered radar waves from the lunar surface. Although there are quite a few daughter products that one can derive from the Stokes vector, CPR has been invariably used to comment on the state of the lunar surface. Such an interpretation based solely on a single parameter can be misleading and incomplete. However, CPR, when examined in conjunction with other daughter parameters derived from the Stokes vector, can give valuable insights on the scattering mechanism of the lunar surface.