Hybrid-Quadrature-Polarity SAR Architecture

Data products from a quadrature-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) are fully characterized by Stokes parameters. In follows that choice of the polarization basis of both the transmitted and received EM fields has no impact on the measurement potential of the system. Hence the polarization plan can be selected to optimize the radar's technical performance. The logical conclusion is that the radar should transmit circular polarization, and receive orthogonal linear polarizations - the hybrid-quadrature-polarity architecture.