Method of statistical measurements of the absolute S-matrix of radar targets

The present study gives a theoretical justification of a method of statistical measurements of the absolute S-matrix of radar targets which is based on the identification of the measurement system using linear regression and the least squares method. This method is more general than the direct method and is therefore free of many of the limitations of the latter. This makes it possible to significantly simplify the construction and adjustment of the measuring instrumentation and to employ arbitrary polarizations in the measurements, irrespective of the bases in which the absolute S-matrices are to be obtained.