Models of Land Clutter vs Grazing Angle, Spatial Distribution and Temporal Distribution – L-Band VV Polarisation Perspective

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE Land clutter issues and modelling from a perspective of L-band VV polarisation are addressed. In particular, clutter distributions in three different dimensions are discussed in detail. First a three-term model for the dependence of land clutter on grazing angle is proposed. The model is site-specific and landcover-dependent. Parameters for dominant types of landcover in the Northern Territory region are regressed using AirSAR and MCARM measurements as well as others available in literature. Clutter spatial distribution is also investigated. Aimed at real-time implementation, a simple and fast parameter estimation scheme for the Weibull and Kdistributions is given. The estimates are found to be nearly identical to the maximum likelihood estimates. Discussed finally in the report is the clutter temporal distribution (Doppler spectrum) due to motion of moving parts of scatterers. Billingsley's exponential decay model is summarised. ABSTRACT DSTO-RR-0273 Yunhan Dong