Polarization Mismatch in Terms of Rough Surface Using Radar Backscattering

Polarization mismatch is one of the most frequent phenomena in terms of the usage of linear polarimetry in radar applications. It is described by the difference in the phase of the signals of the incident and received radar antenna. In this paper, we study this phenomenon using experimental data obtained for a linearly polarized wave along rough surface by ground-based radar. The paper demonstrates that the signal, scattered on a triangular corner reflector, has a polarization mismatch due to re-reflection from the Earth’s surface. This phenomenon can be described by orthogonal decomposition of the polarized waves as the components of a special unitary group SU2. Using polarization loss factor (PLF), we have shown that the polarization mismatch for a horizontally polarized wave is less than for a vertically polarized wave. In conditions of fluctuation of vegetation, volume scattering dominates over even-bounce scattering. We have demonstrated the vertically polarized wave is highly susceptible to polarization mismatch than a horizontally polarized wave.