Statistical characterization of clutter decorrelation for medium and long integration time imaging

This paper presents the results of a RADAR experiment aimed to assess and eventually complement the Internal Clutter Motion model (ICM) provided by Billingsley, for medium and long integration time SAR imaging. Employing a real-aperture rotating antenna ground-based RADAR, rural areas have been observed in different periods of the year according to two different modes, properly designed to obtain short-term and long-term clutter de-correlation analysis. The results showed interesting aspects of the phenomenon. In particular a non-stationary behavior with time, say from minutes to hours, and a day/night characteristic. Furthermore, the experiment showed how, for a long integration time, the model parameters are different from the ones foreseen by Billingsley.