Measurements and Prediction of the Polarization-Dependent Properties of Rain and Ice Depolarization

Relationships between rain and ice attenuation and depolarization at 19 GHz have been determined for linear incident polarizations ± 4 and
\pm 8\deg
from vertical. These relationships are based on measurements made using beacon transmissions from a COMSTAR satellite. A technique is used to bound depolarization magnitude at any incident polarization from a depolarization magnitude measurement made at another polarization. This technique makes use of previous observations that depolarization is minimal at vertical and horizontal incident polarizations. The bounds are compared with the results from the COMSTAR measurements.