Bistatic scattering characterization of a complex object

Although much of the radar development over the past fifty years has been focused in the monostatic domain, a bistatic detection approach offers several key benefits. Without proper understanding of the bistatic scattering mechanisms, exploitation of these benefits may not be fully realized. This paper addresses some phenomenological aspects of bistatic scattering from a complex object with an emphasis on specular and shadowing effects. Both ray tracing and scattering center approaches are used to describe the bistatic mechanisms. An appraisal of the effectiveness and utility of the bistatic equivalence theorems and a popular commercial scattering prediction code is also accomplished. Finally some rules of thumb are proposed as a guide in evaluating the effectiveness of bistatic radar cross section (RCS) prediction methods for arbitrary complex shapes