Mott H. Remote Sensing with Polarimetric Radar

New Jersey: Wiley, 2007. — 327 p.The author’s purpose in writing this book was to present the principles necessary for understanding polarized radiation, transmission, scattering, and reception in communication systems and polarimetric-radar remote sensing. The book can be used as a text for an undergraduate or graduate course in these topics and as a reference text for engineers and for scientists who use remotely sensed information about the earth. Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 are at an introductory level and, together with Chapter 6 and selected material from Chapter 3, can be used for an undergraduate course in electrical engineering. Chapters 3 and 6–9 are at a more advanced technical and mathematical level and provide suitable material for graduate study. Student deficiencies in antennas and radar can be corrected with selections from Chapters 2, 4, and 5 . Problems, ranging from straightforward in the introductory chapters to more challenging in the advanced chapters, are provided for pedagogical purposes. Scientists who can profitably study the book are agronomists, geographers, meteorologists, and others who use remotely sensed information. For those who wish to go beyond this discussion of principles to learn of the achievements of polarimetric radar remote sensing and see predictions of future technological developments, I recommend a complementary book, Principles & Applications of Imaging Radar: Manual of Remote Sensing, Volume 2, by F. M. Henderson and A. J. Lewis, Wiley, 1998. A comprehensive description of earth-survey sensors is given by H. J. Kramer, Observation of the Earth and Its Environment: Survey of Missions and Sensors, Third ed., Springer, 1996.