Radar Doppler polarimetry: a new approach for characterization of radar targets

In this paper we propose a new polarimetric formalism - Doppler polarimetry that includes the conventional polari- metric radar target description as a special case. Using this new formalism the problem of staggered polarimetric measurements is solved. Then it is shown how polarimetric basis transformation can influence the spectral properties of radar targets. Doppler polarimetry is applied for ground clutter suppression in atmospheric remote sensing. Two new clutter suppression techniques are illustrated using radar measurements of precipitation and ground clutter. The first ground suppression method uses co-polar correlation to reduce ground clutter reflections and increase the contrast between ground clutter and atmospheric signals. And the second technique is used to reduce the width of the ground clutter and thus to optimize the known Doppler clutter suppression technique.