Radar Reflection and Scattering Properties from Geologic Surfaces

Computer Science – Sound

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

0629 Inverse Scattering, 0669 Scattering And Diffraction, 0933 Remote Sensing, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 5494 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

Planetary and terrestrial surfaces are commonly examined through the use of various radar imaging techniques, sounders and reflectivity measurements. Through these measurements we can derive a better understanding of specific geologic surface processes both visually and mathematically. Using field and laboratory observations we seek to statistically infer geologic properties of rough surfaces using radar reflectivity measurements and accurate topographic data acquired from airborne LIDAR. Well established radar theory for slightly rough and random surfaces predicts a transition from a highly peaked Gaussian distribution of normal incidence backscatter amplitude for smooth surfaces, to a broader, Rayleigh distribution as roughness approaches a significant fraction of a wavelength. This transition defines changes from reflection to scattering as a surface character alters. However, the RMS height variances of most naturally occurring surfaces are considerably greater than the standard microwave wavelengths used for most contemporary Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging systems. Our field work was conducted at a remote watershed within California's Mojave Desert where we utilized an elevated, 1.5-GHz FMCW radar to measure backscatter at normal incidence over a rough boulder surface. In addition, we used NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM)-LIDAR and field measurements to characterize surface slopes and height variances, and GPR to measure ground dielectric permittivity. Our lab work utilizes 100-GHz Doppler FMCW radar to measure forward scatter and backscatter at low incidence angles from various surfaces on a rotating table. All of our rough backscatter cases show Rayleigh distributions, while many of our forward scatter cases are Gaussian despite the extreme roughness. In the latter case however, the distributions are not sharp, in contradiction to the specular reflections commonly believed for grazing angle incidence. Our preliminary conclusions show that it may be possible to obtain surface roughness characteristics from radar measurements and through this technique it may be possible to backwards correlate specific surface processes to produce fidelity maps of surface terrain based on these statistics.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Radar Reflection and Scattering Properties from Geologic Surfaces does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Radar Reflection and Scattering Properties from Geologic Surfaces, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Radar Reflection and Scattering Properties from Geologic Surfaces will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-749738

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.