Statistical Parameters of Bistatic Sea Clutter: Models and Measurements

This paper compares the predictions of a physics-based model with measurements of the amplitude distributions of sea clutter bistatic scattered fields. The primary objective is to understand changes in the amplitude distribution and its statistical parameters with different bistatic configurations and sea conditions. Existing measurements of bistatic sea clutter from the S-band NetRAD radar system are used having out-of-plane geometries with bistatic angles varying from 30° to 90°. The physics-based model uses a Monte Carlo simulation for the same geometries to predict the amplitude distribution of bistatic sea clutter. Results show that the statistical parameters of the scattered field amplitude distribution have similar trends versus geometry in the measured and modeled datasets.