Statistical Properties of the Estimated Degree of Polarization

Author

Medkour, T. ; Walden, Andrew T.

Author_Institution

Imperial Coll. London, London

Volume

56

Issue

1

fYear

2008

Firstpage

408

Lastpage

414

Abstract

We derive important and useful new statistical properties of the estimated degree of polarization in the two-dimensional case. We find its distribution function and show how it may be used to construct confidence intervals. We also find an expression for any moment of the distribution, and derive an exact unbiasing formula for the estimator of the squared coefficient. Further we discuss a test for partial polarization. Our statistical analyses enable identification of elliptical polarization for an ultra low frequency wave in the solar magnetic field.

Keywords

eigenvalues and eigenfunctions; electromagnetic wave polarisation; confidence intervals; cumulative distribution; distribution function; elliptical polarization; estimated degree of polarization; partial polarization; solar magnetic field; spectrum estimation; Covariance matrix; Distribution functions; Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions; Frequency estimation; Magnetic fields; Optical polarization; Radar scattering; Spectral analysis; Statistical analysis; Testing; Confidence intervals; cumulative distribution; degree of polarization; moments; spectrum estimation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1053-587X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TSP.2007.906767

Filename

4381429