Clutter measurements by millimeter-wave radars

Abstract

An extensive radar clutter database was generated by the University of Michigan's millimeter-wave mobile polarimetric radar system. The database includes millimeter-wave observations of snow, trees, vegetation, and soil and road surfaces at 35, 94, 140, and 215 GHz. The radar measurements were often augmented with close-up observations of the targets including such measurements as water content and surface roughness when appropriate. For each data set, a summary of the observations and photographs of the target scene are provided. The millimeter-wave system consists of truck-mounted radars capable of making observations from a 20 m high platform at incidence angles between 0 and 70 degrees . The 35 and 94 GHz radars are fully polarimetric and capable obtaining the Mueller matrix in situ.<>