Plane-of-Scattering Bistatic Scattering Matrix of Simply Shaped Targets

We study polarization properties of radar scattering from canonical targets in the bistatic case. Components of the scattering matrix are defined with respect to the plane of scattering (PoS), which allows a physically justifiable definition of co- and cross polarization in the bistatic radar scattering. We describe transformation rules that transform the scattering matrix from the conventional bases of the spherical coordinate system to the PoS bases. We show that this transformation makes the scattering matrix of a perfectly conducting sphere diagonal, regardless of the sphere radius, the wavelength, the incidence and scattering aspects. Numerical examples for several basic targets (faceted spheres, thin cylinder (wire), thin disc, dihedral) are presented.