Phase correction for coherent noise reduction in short-range radar measurements

Short-range scatterometer systems are used to obtain radar backscatter signatures for understanding the interaction between electromagnetic energy and geophysical media in a number of remote sensing applications. Unlike long-range and intermediate-range radar systems, the sensitivity of short-range radars is not limited by thermal noise, but rather by reflections and leakage signals from the antenna and RF section. These leakage signals and their sidelobes are the primary sources of unwanted signals (coherent noise) in short-range FM radar systems. The authors have employed coherent noise reduction techniques to reduce the effects of these unwanted signal sources. Reduction of these coherent noise sources is critical to obtaining accurate backscatter measurements from geophysical targets. Recent advances include the use of phase correction to overcome limitations due to drift of local oscillators and effects of temperature changes on the system. The authors present results from the standard and phase-corrected coherent noise reduction techniques. These techniques increased the dynamic range of field and laboratory measurements of radar backscatter from sea ice and allows the authors to use data from past experiments that had previously been discarded due to low signal-to-noise ratio.