Measurement of the depolarization of radar scattering using scale modelling techniques

When a complex radar target is illuminated by linearly or circularly polarized energy, the reflected signal is, in general, elliptically polarized. In order to estimate the return for a particular illuminating polarization, it is first necessary to determine the target's scattering matrix by measurement. First, an insight to the target's scattering matrix is given and then measurement facilities, operating at 80 GHz and at 140 GHz, are described. Measurement results obtained from a dihedral corner target are presented. These illustrate the range of results that can be obtained from complex reflectors such as aircraft, ships and land-based vehicles.