A coherent dual-polarized radar for studying the ocean environment

The important features of a coherent dual-polarized X-band radar designed to be of instrumentation quality for research use are described. The motivation for building the radar was to quantify the improvements attainable through the use of coherence and polarization in the detection of small floating targets in the presence of sea clutter. Results on the statistics of dual-polarized radar returns from the ocean surface (obtained with this radar at a site on the east coast of Canada) are presented. These results indicate that the K-distribution is very useful for describing the amplitude statistics of sea clutter (both the like- and cross-polarized channels) for low grazing angles. Analysis of the time-varying Doppler spectra of a small ice target and the neighboring sea clutter reveals differing Doppler characteristics, offering improved target detection