Statistics of the degree of polarization

The degree of polarization of a wave, that depends on sensor and target parameters, provides information on the randomness of the scattering or emission from natural targets. It may be useful in the analysis and interpretation of remote sensing data. For that, precise statistical description of its estimate will be required. Probability density function, expected value and standard deviation of the maximum likelihood estimate of the degree of polarization are obtained assuming a complex Gaussian distribution of the field samples that appropriately describes radiometric data, and also, some radar data.