Stochastic effects on the bistatic transfer function of a planar scatterer distribution

Abstract

We evaluate the effects of several stochastic factors on signal transmission through a planar distribution of stationary scatterers, with non-collocated transmitter and receiver (bistatic configuration). The transmission channel is described by means of its transfer function, which –as a result of randomness in the scatterer distribution– fluctuates around its expectation value. Specifically, we consider randomness in the scatterer positions (both on the plane and in height), in their radar cross sections, and in the scattering phases. Our analytical results provide a quantitative relation between the parameters that characterize random components of each kind, and the fluctuations that alter the transfer function.