Cross-polarization measurements and their relation to target surface properties

It has often been suggested in lunar studies that measurements of radar cross-polarization factor
D
should yield information on the target's surface roughness and dielectric properties. This paper describes an experimental effort to obtain quantitative data on
\langle D \rangle
, the average value of
D
, for randomly rough targets having Gaussian distribution of slopes. Bistatic
X
-band microwave measurements were conducted on targets with different dielectric constants but identical rough surfaces, and targets with same dielectrics but different statistics. The dependence of
\langle D \rangle
on various parameters is shown graphically, and extension to M.I.T. data of lunar crosspolarization is discussed.