Polarization correlation signal processing: Determination of the complete stokes vector

The polarization of a signal represents an additional degree of freedom in the collection of discrimination techniques available to radar and communications engineers. Use of waveforms polarized in a certain way that are optimized for discrimination of a given target represent an unexploited capability in signal processing. In this paper we describe two methods of discrimination based on polarization. The first is based on an optical technique called channeled polarimetry and makes use of optical components to generate a spectrum of polarization for a return signal. The Stokes parameters are then determined by calculating the Fourier transform of this spectrum followed by calculating the Fourier transform of the individual peaks of the spectrum. The second method uses the same optical elements but effects discrimination by comparing the polarization spectrum to those of known targets in a correlator. Both of these methods are discussed in detail and some sample calculations are presented.