Quantitative comparisons of radar image, scatterometer, and surface roughness data from Pisgah Crater, CA

The relationships between radar image brightness and backscatter coefficient, between the backscatter coefficient and surface roughness, and between surface roughness and geology, must be established in order to satisfy criteria for the quantitative use of radar images. Attention is presently given to the merits of calibrated radar images and scatterometers as sources of the backscatter coefficient, theories that yield the coefficient on the basis of known surface roughness (and vice versa), and the geologic interpretation of surface roughness and backscatter signatures. These considerations are discussed in the case of the Pisgah Crater and lava field in the Mojave Desert of California.