Radar contrast of two objects

The paper considers the radar observation of extended targets (e.g., the earth's surface). The objective of the study is to compare signals reflected from different regions of the target in order to select a type of polarization for which the contrast (defined as power ratio) between the signals is maximum. S-matrix representations are obtained for the two objects in the same polarization basis through eigenvalues of the S-matrices; the radar contrast is studied as a function of the type of polarization of the irradiating wave.