Polarimetric-interferometric Sea Scatter Research Using the Nrl Fopair Radar

The Naval Research Laboratory has recently begun a new basic research program designed to lay the foundation for future Navy applications of high-resolution polarimetric and polarimetric-interferometric radar systems. Despite many years of research, there is a serious lack of high-resolution, polarimetric ocean backscatter data in the radar community from which to fuel advanced applications, such as the detection of low-observable targets and radar-based ship stabilization systems. In the case of polarimetric interferometry, in which polarimetric and interferometric data are collected simultaneously and combined synergistically, there is a complete lack of ocean data: all research to date in this promising new field has been devoted to terrestrial applications. To address these serious deficiencies, the new NRL program will generate a database of highresolution polarimetric and interferometric radar imagery of the ocean surface, characterize it, and derive an understanding of the observed correlations. With regard to interferometry, we will focus on polarimetric crosstrack systems with a resulting sensitivity to surface height and angular coherence. In this paper, we describe the radar that will be used in this research, the NRL Focused Phased Array Imaging Radar (NRL FOPAIR), and present preliminary target and ocean imagery generated by this system.