Validating Models of Bistatic Scattering from Dielectric Surfaces with Small Roughness

Prediction of radar clutter produced by rough ground surfaces is an important part of detection performance analysis for ground penetrating radar (GPR). In this paper., we consider surfaces with small roughness., such as a dirt road., which are suitable for treatment by the small perturbation method (SPM). We compute the bistatic scattering coefficient from such surfaces using first-and-second-order SPM., as well as an FDTD-based approach. The results obtained over the entire range of bistatic scattering angles and different polarizations show a very good agreement between the two techniques. Additionally., the V-V case exhibits some interesting phenomenology which could be exploited in a bistatic radar system for buried target detection.